The legislation to allow a casino to be built in the county of more than 1 million people, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, whose district includes part of Fairfax, passed the Virginia Senate by a vote of 23-14 on Friday.

Surovell, a Democrat, has pushed for the past four years for a change in state law to allow a casino in Fairfax County, but a previous version of the bill included a requirement it be built along Metro’s Silver Line in Tysons. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Resources Subcommittee stripped that requirement from this year’s bill before advancing it out of committee.

The bill’s next stop is the state’s House of Delegates, where it was killed last year. If it passes, it would need to be signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, then approved as a ballot referendum by the county’s Board of Supervisors before eventually heading to a public vote.

Like last year’s version, the bill requires the casino be part of a mixed-use project totaling at least 1.5M SF.

But the requirements that it be located within a quarter-mile of a Silver Line Metro station, within 2 miles of a regional enclosed mall and outside the I-495 Beltway — limiting sites exclusively to the Tysons area of the county — were stricken.

Senators in favor of the bill argued on the Senate floor Friday that a casino would act as a vital source of tax revenue, specifically for school construction across Fairfax County, the Washington Business Journal reported.

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