{"id":369,"date":"2026-03-09T08:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T09:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=369"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:42","slug":"the-fairfax-casino-bill-in-virginia-will-likely-pass-county-officials-say-its-all-for-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/the-fairfax-casino-bill-in-virginia-will-likely-pass-county-officials-say-its-all-for-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fairfax Casino Bill in Virginia Will Likely Pass. County Officials Say It\u2019s All for Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>The chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors says the county might not conduct a competitive bid for a casino even if state lawmakers authorize the county to have a casino<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Fairfax homeowners and civic groups are overwhelmingly opposed to a casino<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The odds favor Fairfax County in Northern Virginia being made eligible for a casino development. Local officials say state lawmakers are wasting their time.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_343446\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-343446\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-343446 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Northern Virginia casino Fairfax County\" width=\"858\" height=\"571\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1656107521-858x571-1.jpg\"><figcaption>The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors opposes legislative efforts in Richmond to designate the county for a casino. But lawmakers are pressing forward with a bill that would give county voters the final say on slots, table games, and sports betting in Northern Virginia. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Designated members of the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate will soon meet to iron out legislative differences regarding adding Fairfax to the state&#8217;s list of eligible host localities for slots, table games, and sports betting. While both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fairfax-casino-bill-will-soon-head-to-gov-abigail-spanberger\/\">chambers passed Senate Bill 756<\/a>, the bills differed in their referendum requirements, licensing fees, and revenue allocations.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Senate version, led by the bill&#8217;s original sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), requires a simple majority of voters in Fairfax to approve of a casino for the project to move forward. The House substitute, which the Senate rejected, included a double referendum where countywide voters and a majority of voters within the magisterial district where the casino is being targeted greenlight the development.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Senate bill proposed splitting the associated tax revenue from a casino in Fairfax 50\/50 between the county and state. The House version seeks a $150 million upfront fee, with Fairfax receiving $75 million, but the state retaining 75% of the subsequent gaming tax.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Virginia&#8217;s five other casinos paid only $15 million upfront licensing fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Much Ado About Nothing<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Both versions of Virginia SB756 would allow the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to field bids for a casino.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The statute says the &#8220;eligible host locality \u2026 shall select a proposed casino.&#8221; It does not mandate or force the county to conduct such a competitive bid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Speaking with <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/fairfax-county\/2026\/03\/fairfax-co-board-chairman-says-he-wouldnt-put-casino-deal-before-voters\/\"><i>WTOP<\/i><\/a>, Jeff McKay, the chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said even if the chambers find common ground on SB756 and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signs or allows the bill to become law in one of its current forms, the opportunity will go untouched. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I will not support it going to referendum. I am not going to subject my residents to vote on something that we know is a bad deal,&#8221; said McKay.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;This is frankly just a bad financial deal for the residents of Fairfax County. This perpetuates a pattern in Richmond where revenue benefits the state. This is a great deal for the state. They get 75%. We get 25% and all the associated problems with a casino,&#8221; said McKay.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Referendum Imposition<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">McKay says he&#8217;s concerned that the conference committee tasked with finalizing SB756 and securing both House and Senate support might include a mandate requiring Fairfax County to conduct a competitive casino bid and present the matter to voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">At a minimum, the local government should have the authority to determine if a referendum is held,&#8221; McKay said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As <i>Casino.org <\/i>reported previously, both Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts are monitoring SB756 and have expressed early interest in the possible opportunity. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-fairfax-casino-bill-in-virginia-will-likely-pass\/\">The Fairfax Casino Bill in Virginia Will Likely Pass. County Officials Say It&#8217;s All for Nothing<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors says the county might not conduct a competitive bid for a casino even if state lawmakers authorize the county to have a casino Fairfax homeowners and civic groups are overwhelmingly opposed to a casino The odds favor Fairfax County in Northern Virginia being made eligible for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}