The Arkansas secretary of state’s office has certified for the November 6 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing four casinos in the state. Elections Director Leslie Bellamy said the measure’s sponsor turned in 99,988 valid signatures of registered voters, more than the required 84,859.
Issue 4, which requires a majority of votes to pass, would allow the Arkansas Racing Commission to issue casino licenses to Southland Gaming and Racing in West Memphis and Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot Springs. The measure would allow Southland and Oaklawn to expand their gambling operations, including sports betting, since they already offer electronic gambling machines.
Casino licenses also would be issued to an applicant in Jefferson County near Pine Bluff and one in Pope County near Russellville.
The political committees Driving Arkansas Forward and Arkansas Jobs Coalition, which promoted the proposed amendment, are chaired by lobbyist Don Tilton, who represents the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. Through July 31, Driving Arkansas Forward reported a total of $2.26 million in contributions, including $1.2 million from the Downstream Development Authority of the Quapaw Tribe and $1.05 million from Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC of Catoosa, Oklahoma.
The two committees estimated the casinos initially would raise $66 million annually for the state, $33 million for casino host cities and counties and $25 million to support purses at Oaklawn and Southland. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, however, said the state actually would receive less during fiscal years 2020-22; it collected $64.3 million from electronic games at Oaklawn and Southland in fiscal 2018, ending June 30.
Driving Arkansas Forward and Arkansas Jobs Coalition Counsel Nate Steel said, “This amendment is the state’s best opportunity to create a transparent and equitable gaming structure free from all the pitfalls and drawbacks of casino measures in the past. History tells us that we’ll keep seeing legally defective proposals from out-of-state special interests over and over again unless we act now to establish a fair model to provide entertainment opportunities in four distinct regions of Arkansas and create additional revenue to pay for our most important needs.”
Jerry Cox, president of the conservative Family Council Action committee that’s against Issue 4, called Steel’s comment “a ridiculous statement.” Cox pointed out the major funders of the amendment are two out-of-state tribes. He said Cox said the FCA, along with the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council and others may sue to keep the proposal off the ballot. Two political groups, Citizens for Local Choice and Ensuring Arkansas’ Future already have sued to disqualify Issue 4 and keep it off the ballot, stating its title and wording are “misleading and not intelligible, fair and impartial.”
In response, Steel said, “For them to indicate all this is homegrown is absolutely false. Perhaps someone should tell the nearly 100,000 Arkansans that signed our petition that this effort wasn’t homegrown. I would also note that the Quapaw Tribe was here long before any of us. We believe a challenge to the popular name and ballot title would be a futile effort. We’re confident that the attorney general and her staff did their job thoroughly and correctly,” Steel said.
If the amendment passes, a licensee in Jefferson or Pope counties would be required pay an application fee, prove casino gambling experience and submit a letter of support from the county judge or a resolution from the county quorum court. If the proposed casino would be located in a city, the licensee also would need a letter of support from that city’s mayor.
Issue 4 also proposes taxing a casino’s net gambling receipts at 13 percent on the first $150 million and 20 percent above that. The general revenue fund would get 55 percent and the state racing commission would get 17.5 percent for purses for live horse and greyhound racing. The host county would receive 8 percent of receipts, and the city or county would receive 19.5 percent.
The state Highway Commission recently issued a statement that “Citizens need to understand that the proposal does not direct any of the revenue to be generated from the casinos to our state’s highways, despite what some of the promotional ads are implying.”
Steel said Driving Arkansas Forward’s “advertisements cite facts and make clear these additional tax revenues could be used for roads and highways, and it is the organization’s primary goal to make sure our policymakers dedicate more money for highways.” The original version of the proposal would have given 65 percent of the revenue to the state Department of Transportation, which is overseen by the Highway Commission.
Governor Asa Hutchinson has said he opposes the proposed amendment.
“Let me emphasize that on these amendments, I have to vote just like everybody else, but it’s ultimately up to the people to decide ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ on those. I will vote ‘no’ on the casino amendment because I have always opposed the expansion of casino gambling in Arkansas,” Hutchinson said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Henderson said he wants to review Issue 4 more thoroughly before expressing how he’ll vote on it. “This is one of the issues that there are good arguments for and against it. This could provide some deeply needed resources to some communities that are really hurting for them, but we also know that casinos can come with really negative externalities as well,” Henderson said.
