A bill that might lead to a new casino in Fairfax County got over a major hurdle Tuesday.
The part of Fairfax County where a developer is trying to build a casino is represented by Senator Saddam Salim. He says his constituents are against the casino, and that he cannot support a bill that allows the Board of Supervisors to approve a countywide referendum.
"I understand that this is a referendum, and I have spent weeks trying to explain to my constituents and folks that it is a referendum, not a direct casino bill – just for clarity," says Salim. "However, once we have labeled this as a casino bill, this is what it's going to end up being, is a casino bill that will lead to a casino that the community does not support."
He's not the only source of opposition. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell says one of the major sources of opposition is the casino that operates on the other side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria.
"You know who’s creating all the emails you're getting? MGM. MGM is putting out text messages to people to get them to send you emails and to get them to send you papers," Surovell says. "And so, if you want to support MGM, if you want to continue to watch all this money, billions of dollars per decade, going over the bridge into Maryland, go ahead and vote red."
The bill got out of the Senate on a 24 to 16 vote, and now it's heading over to the House of Delegates. A spokesman for the governor says the "strong and vocal opposition" he's hearing gives him pause, and he says it "should give legislators pause too."
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
