{"id":433,"date":"2026-02-25T14:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=433"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:49","slug":"virginia-lawmakers-advance-bill-that-could-bring-casino-to-fairfax-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/virginia-lawmakers-advance-bill-that-could-bring-casino-to-fairfax-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Lawmakers Advance Bill that Could Bring Casino to Fairfax County"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>A bill to allow a casino in Fairfax County continues to make headway<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Local voters would have the final say on a casino in Northern Virginia<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Caesars and Wynn have expressed interest in the opportunity<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The odds of a casino coming to Northern Virginia continue to shorten, but the gaming push still faces an uphill battle.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_377878\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-377878\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-377878 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Fairfax casino Northern Virginia\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/shutterstock_2327487341-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>The Interstate 66 Express exit for Fairfax County is pictured. A legislative push in Virginia to bring a casino to Fairfax continues to advance in the Richmond capital. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On Tuesday, the Virginia House General Laws Committee voted 12-7 to forward Senate Bill 756 to the Appropriations Committee. SB756 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-igaming-bill-passes-senate-fairfax-casino-too\/\">passed the state Senate<\/a> earlier this month with 23-14 support.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Led by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), SB756 would add Fairfax County to the commonwealth&#8217;s list of eligible host localities for slot machines, table games, and sports betting. Under Virginia law, casinos can only operate in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Petersburg, and Portsmouth.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The bill, which would allow the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to field bids for a casino development, would permit such a resort anywhere within the county. But the legislation was heavily amended during its consideration in the General Laws Committee.<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Fairfax Casino Statute Amended<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Proposals from Del. Paul Krizek (D-Fairfax), accepted by the General Laws Committee, changed the details of Surovell&#8217;s bill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Most significantly, the winning bidder for a casino would need to pay the state $150 million for the Northern Virginia gaming concession. Virginia&#8217;s casino law, passed in 2020, called for just $15 million in gaming licensing fees. Fairfax County would receive $75 million of the upfront fee. The rest would go to Richmond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Another major condition is that the municipality where a casino is being targeted must approve of the gaming facility through a local ballot referendum.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If it&#8217;s in Springfield, Springfield would have to approve it. If it gets 80% of the county but 49% of Springfield, it would not pass,&#8221; Krizek explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A failed vote on a casino would be barred from being represented to voters. However, new casino plans within Fairfax, with a new site, could be, so long as the referendum is held before July 1, 2029, when the provisions of SB756 would expire.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Casino Taxes<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A casino in Northern Virginia would be subjected to significantly higher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fairfax-casino-would-generate-29-million-annual-county-taxes\/\">gaming taxes<\/a> than the commonwealth&#8217;s other casinos, should SB756 become law as amended. The latest text suggests taxing gross gaming revenue at 40%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Virginia&#8217;s five other casinos are taxed on a graduated scale based on revenue, ranging from 18% to 30%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Of the Northern Virginia casino tax, 50% would remain with Fairfax County. Thirty-eight percent could go to the state for K-12 education infrastructure, 5% to problem gambling support, and 5% to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The remaining 2% would be divided between the Virginia Indigenous People&#8217;s Trust Fund, the Open-Space Lands Preservation Fund, and the Virginia Family and Children&#8217;s Trust Fund.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Market Attractiveness<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A substantial entry fee and high taxes could diminish interest in a Northern Virginia casino. Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts have both stated that they would review the feasibility of a casino in the affluent region should the opportunity arise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Fairfax is the nation&#8217;s fifth-richest county, with a median household income of nearly $128K.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-bill-northern-virginias-fairfax-county-progresses\/\">Virginia Lawmakers Advance Bill that Could Bring Casino to Fairfax County<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bill to allow a casino in Fairfax County continues to make headway Local voters would have the final say on a casino in Northern Virginia Caesars and Wynn have expressed interest in the opportunity The odds of a casino coming to Northern Virginia continue to shorten, but the gaming push still faces an uphill&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":435,"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\/433"}],"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=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions\/436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}