\n Posted on: October 22, 2024, 04:26h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on: October 22, 2024, 04:26h.\n <\/p>\n
![\"Avatar](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-50x50.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSeveral powerful labor unions and trade groups rallied this morning in Northern Virginia to bring a casino to Fairfax County by way of Tysons.<\/span><\/p>\n Outside the Fairfax County Government Center before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday meeting, members of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, Unite Here Local 23, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, Building Trades Unions, and SEIU Local 32BJ touted the economic and tax benefits<\/a> that a casino could deliver the region. Assembled as the Fairfax County Jobs Coalition, attendees said a casino would create 5,000 good-paying union jobs with excellent benefits and $350 million in annual new tax revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n If you work in a union hotel or union convention center you know you\u2019re going to be making good wages where you only need one job to live in Fairfax County. You can afford to live here with health care and pensions,\u201d said Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe\u2019re out here advocating for the working-class residents of Fairfax County,\u201d Diamond continued. \u201cA union job is a life-changing job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Virginia State Sen. David Marsden (D-Fairfax) is expected to reintroduce legislation<\/a> in January when the General Assembly convenes to designate Tysons as a permissible host city for a casino in the commonwealth. Currently, casinos are only authorized in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Danville.<\/span><\/p>\n Legislation passed this year to allow Petersburg<\/a> to conduct a local ballot referendum to authorize a casino will be determined during next month\u2019s Nov. 5 election.<\/span><\/p>\n The unions campaigning to bring a casino to Northern Virginia<\/a> argue that a resort and convention center, along with its many other amenities, would provide invaluable career opportunities for many area residents who are struggling to fend off inflation, higher rents and mortgages, and escalating property taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n Marsden says it\u2019s his responsibility to give county voters options to ease rising property taxes, rates he believes will only go higher in the coming years as many of the county\u2019s Fortune 500 companies negotiate new lease terms for their office spaces, with some expected to downsize amid more remote work.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Diamond says a casino would help \u201clift people out of poverty\u201d in the notoriously expensive county, which is one of the nation\u2019s richest. During the 2020 Census, Fairfax ranked fifth in terms of median household income at $128K. Neighboring Loudoun was first at over $147K.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery year my property taxes go up. I know this is going to bring a lot of tax revenue and that would take the load off my back,\u201d said Nelson Aguilar, a county resident and union carpenter.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The odds of a casino gaining local referendum support in Fairfax, at least at this juncture, are presumably long at best.<\/span><\/p>\n The wealthy residents largely opposed Marsden\u2019s 2024 legislative gaming push and every homeowners association that has weighed in on the matter has been in opposition. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has also come out in formal opposition<\/a> to a casino.<\/span><\/p>\n The opposition campaign \u2014 No Tysons Casino Coalition \u2014 plans to hold its own rally this Sunday, Oct. 27. Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who represents parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, plans to be there.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Tysons](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/dec2246f-5368-4b5e-a063-ac2ae79232a8-TUJOYWANG_frame_136611-858x534.jpg\")
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Jobs, Taxes<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
Opposition Aplenty<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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