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The No Casino Coalition is returning to Richmond for a second year of lobbying against a proposed Tysons casino, this time funding its own trip and applying lessons learned from an earlier encounter with casino-industry money.
The coalition, largely organized by homeowners’ and civic associations, faced criticism at a Jan. 7 Fairfax NAACP forum after Comstock Companies revealed that MGM Resorts International had indirectly supported bus trips for opponents lobbying the General Assembly in 2024. MGM operates the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino in Prince George’s County, which could face new competition from a Northern Virginia casino.
“The real people who are against this is MGM,” Comstock Executive Vice President of Development John Harrison claimed during the forum.
Coalition Chair Lynne Mulston acknowledged that MGM funding had indirectly covered transportation for two trips to Richmond. She said coalition members were inexperienced citizen advocates confronting a fast-moving legislative process.
“It’s important to note that we’re simply regular citizens, not professional lobbyists,” Mulston said. “Before January and February of 2024, none of us who came together to organize had any prior experience in lobbying.”
Mulston said opponents learned shortly before a Jan. 24, 2024, committee vote that legislation from state Sen. Dave Marsden could make Fairfax County eligible to host a casino. With little time to organize, coalition members sought transportation and coordinated carpools the evening before the vote.
A Reston contact referred Mulston to two people working for a public relations firm. They said several clients who opposed the casino legislation wanted to remain anonymous and offered to help. The arrangement resulted in buses for two lobbying trips.
“We did not have time, nor did it occur to us neophytes, to question or dig in further the evening before we needed to leave for Richmond,” Mulston said.
The coalition discovered the firm’s connection to MGM after its second trip. Members then decided to reject additional assistance funded by the casino industry, Mulston said.
The group’s latest Richmond bus trip, scheduled for Wednesday, is being paid for through its own recent fundraising.
The renewed lobbying comes as state Sen. Scott Surovell, a Democrat representing District 34, leads a new effort to authorize the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to hold a casino referendum. Senate Bill 982 has been referred to the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee.
The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting of the session at 4 p.m. Wednesday, although the casino measure is not on the docket.
Before that meeting, the coalition plans to make its case at an 11 a.m. news conference organized by state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, a District 38 Democrat whose constituency includes McLean, Reston, Herndon and Great Falls. Boysko is not a member of the committee considering the bill.
Surovell also announced that three senators had joined him as chief patrons: District 36 Democrat Stella Pekarsky, a former Fairfax County School Board member; District 14 Democrat Lamont Bagby, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus; and District 6 Republican Todd Pillion, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee.