House tables push to add Fairfax to eligible casinos list in Virginia

Lawmakers deciding on a controversial bill to develop a casino and entertainment complex in Tysons Corner tabled a decision Wednesday after House leadership moved the bill between House committees for consideration.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell’s Senate Bill 982 would have added Fairfax County to the list of Virginia localities eligible to develop a casino that backers say would bring jobs and revenue for the county and commonwealth.

But after successfully passing the Senate with a 24-16 vote, the bill still remains in a House Appropriations subcommittee. 

“We’re going to keep talking about it,” Surovell, D-Fairfax, said after Wednesday’s vote. 

While it’s common for House leadership to move bills between committees, it comes a day after Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, was expected to take up the bill in the gaming subcommittee he chairs.

During a public event over the weekend in Alexandria, he said that he opposed the casino bill, sources confirmed with the Mercury.

Krizek, a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce Agriculture and Natural Resources that heard the bill on Wednesday, said it “hurts” not to support the bill considering Surovell’s efforts to prioritize Northern Virginia’s economy. However, he said the commonwealth needs specific regulations around gaming due to the increased level of interest.

“I think we need to get a strong regulatory framework set up to oversee Virginia’s gaming industry, which is growing,” Krizek said on Wednesday. 

Krizek said he hopes to use a budget amendment to establish the Virginia Gaming Commission, an independent agency charged with acting as a regulatory watchdog of all forms of legal gambling, except the Virginia Lottery. 

He said the commission is “essential to streamline the oversight and enforcement of all gaming activities in Virginia, and we really need to get that going [first].” 

The subcommittee heard testimony from supporters about the possibilities for jobs, job security and increased revenue at its last meeting of the session. Opponents said the bill lacked community support and only had two eligible locations for development in Tysons Corner.

Lawmakers have also questioned the legislation after records suggested a financial relationship between the proposed casino developer Comstock Holding Companies and George Mason University following a university professor switching his opinion. Virginia Politics Revealed first reported the relationship.

In 2023, George Mason University Professor Terry Clower described the previous legislation carried by Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, as a “measure of economic development desperation.” Clower is also the director of the Center for Regional Analysis at the Schar School of Public Policy.

However, after records revealed that Comstock offered to pay the university to conduct a study on casino development, Clower voiced his support for the legislation at a public forum hosted by the Fairfax County NAACP last January.

“I think it’s the best option going forward,” said Clower on Jan. 7.

Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who spoke at Wednesday’s subcommittee hearing in opposition, wrote to George Mason President Gregory Washington that she was concerned about Clower’s failure to disclose the financial relationship between the proposed developer and the Schar School of Public Policy, according to a letter obtained by the Mercury.

“The disclosure of this financial relationship, and more importantly, the communications discussing the use of the developer’s data to produce the report has raised significant concerns about the objectivity of the analysis provided to lawmakers,” Boysko wrote. 

She added, “Certainly, as a taxpayer-funded Institution of Higher Education, our residents expect a level of transparency and objectivity. Regardless of opinion on Senate Bill 982, the public disclosure of this financial relationship through the recent FOIA request has generated many questions.”

John Hollis, a spokesman for George Mason University, said in an email to The Mercury Thursday that “no financial relationship” exists between Clower, the university, Comstock Holdings, or any entity advocating for or against a Tyson’s casino. He said the request to conduct the study was “declined” and “we have no financial involvement in the initiative whatsoever.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that the casino bill has been tabled.