TYSONS, VA — Earlier this week, Patch reported that Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) submitted Senate Bill 982 on Wednesday, which was the first day of the Virginia General Assembly legislative session.
Submitted in the two preivous sessions, the new bill seeks to give the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors the authority to put a casino referendum on a future ballot.
Reston-based Comstock Holding Companies has spent nearly $1.5 million in contributions and lobbying efforts to have a casino referendum bill passed and signed into law. At the same time, MGM Resorts and others have spent more than $755,000 to keep the bill from being passed.
SB982 was refered to the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, which meets 30 minutes after the morning general assembly session on Wednesdays.
No Fairfax Casino Coalition Lobbying Day
The No Fairfax Casino Coalition, made up of local citizen activists opposing the casino effort, will be holding a lobbying day on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Anyone who wishes to ride down to Richmond on the coalition’s bus needs to register online by 12 noon on Monday, Jan. 13.
Supervisor Jimmy Bierman Provides Casino Update
On Thursday, Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) sent a newsletter to his constituents, providing an update on the casino legislation.
“As I have publicly and repeatedly stated, and as so many of you have implored me to do, I oppose this bill,” he said. “As has been pointed out ad nauseum, in contrast to every other instance in which a casino has been proposed under state legislation, the locality here has never asked for this authority. Placing a casino (with all the negative attendant consequences) on highly sought after land on the Silver Line runs directly contrary to the Tysons Plan which has been the source of significant economic, housing, and job growth opportunities for the County, all of which could be imperiled by the creation of ‘The Tysons Strip.'”
Fairfax NAACP Hosts Casino/Entertainment Complex Community Forum
On Tuesday, Fairfax County NAACP hosted an Entertainment Complex Community Forum, which was livestreamed on Facbook, where a recording of the forum can be viewed.
Reporter Michael Pope of Virginia Public Media moderated the forum, which included Virginia Diamond of the Northern Virginia Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Terry Clower, the Northern Virginia chair and professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University; Lynne Mulston of the No Fairfax Casino Coaltion; and John Harrison, senior vice president of development at Comstock Holding Companies.
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