ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Lawmakers in the general assembly just took the first step needed to fund the Monumental Sports Complex in Virginia. It is the first piece of legislation filed for the proposed arena.
Lawmakers said bottom line they need to see more details about this project before they support anything, and Senator Scott Suorvell said this bill is the first step to do that.
Senate majority leader Scott Suorvell, introduced SB718 Friday. The bill is a first step approval process to bring Monumental Sports to Alexandria. The bill would create the Virginia Sports and Entertainment authority. The group would oversee the $2 billion project. Lawmakers said the project still lacks details.
"There's a lot of questions about how it's being financed, questions about the accuracy of financial projections,” Suorvell said. “Questions about the transportation improvements, questions about the people who are going to work in the event arena and developments around it."
Suorvell said a lot of his colleagues are uncomfortable with the use of bonds to fund the project.
"Within my caucus there's a lot of anxiety about the use of these types of bonds,” Suorvell said. “There's a lot of different types of bonds you can use for a project, but these particular bonds are guaranteed by taxpayers."
Suorvell said this first piece of legislation is just one of the many steps taking things in the right direction for this arena in Virginia.
"We 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,” Suorvell said.
There’s still some opposition from residents about this entire project despite any details being straightened out.
“Everybody is deeply concerned especially that the democrats would introduce legislation in support of Governor Youngkin,” The Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard board member, Andrew Macdonald said.
Macdonald is hopeful that these plans will change.
"I mean it’s good in the sense it’s a stand-alone bill and there's still concern in the general assembly so we're hoping that the democrats and republicans will all realize that this is a terrible deal,” Macdonald said.
"There's a lot of things we have to look at and we're just getting started,” Suorvell said.
There has already been a town hall for people in the area who want to ask questions about this proposed project. Another scheduled for Sunday here in Alexandria. The meeting will be from 1-3 p.m. at Alexandria City High School, 3330 King Street Alexandria, Virginia 22302. To register attend click here.