Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Richmond) filed SB 718 on Friday to form the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority and Financing Fund to oversee the funding and eventual construction of the new sports complex to house the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards proposed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in December.
The Authority that would be created by Surovell’s bill would consist of nine members, including six appointed by Virginia’s governor and three appointed by elected leaders in Alexandria, Virginia, where the new complex is being contemplated.
Members of the Authority would each be given separate duties, and collectively would be able to “issue bonds with a maximum maturity date of 40 years.” Should the Authority earn a profit by administering the future facilities, the bill would require it “to issue excess to the Commonwealth and the City of Alexandria” unless precluded from doing so by bond or financing agreements.
Surovell told WUSA9 that Democrats have “a lot of anxiety about the use of these types of bonds” because they are “guaranteed by taxpayers,” but he told the outlet that Democrats “hope to try to work through all of those problems to see if we can reach a solution that’s mutually acceptable that minimizes taxpayer risks.”
A spokesman for The Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard, however, reportedly expressed concern about the top Democrat in the Virginia Senate filing the legislation to support Youngkin’s initiative.
“Everybody is deeply concerned especially that the democrats would introduce legislation in support of Governor Youngkin,” spokesman Andrew Macdonald told WUSA 9. He added that the activists seeking to keep the Capitals and Wizards from moving to Alexandria are “hoping that the democrats and republicans will all realize this is a terrible deal.”
Though some in the Virginia General Assembly have expressed skepticism at the plan, unveiled by Youngkin and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson last month, a number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have expressed tentative support for the deal to bring the Capitals and Wizards to Virginia.
State Senator Dave Marston (D-Fairfax) called it an opportunity for Virginia to recover “money from the District of Columbia and Maryland coming to ball games in Northern Virginia,” while his colleague, Senator Suhas Subramanyam (D-Loudoun) claimed he would “maybe” vote in favor of the initiative.
However, Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) pledged she would not support the sports complex “before we deliver on toll relief and for public schools in Hampton Roads,” and claimed those who expected her to vote in favor of the new complex without those promises “must think I have dumbass written on my forehead.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Monumental Sports Complex Illustration” by Monumental Opportunity.
