In Arkansas, ballot Issue 4 would amend the state constitution to allow four casinos, including expanding operations including sports betting at Oaklawn Park, the state’s only Thoroughbred racetrack in Hot Springs, and at Southland Racing greyhound track. Both of these tracks currently offer electronic gambling. Issue 4 also would allow casinos near Pine Bluff and Russellville.
The expanded and new casinos would be regulated by the Arkansas Racing Commission. The amendment’s language states 17.5 percent of receipts from the four casinos would support purses at Oaklawn and Southland. The amendment also would allow historical racing games at a several simulcast parimutuel facilities. Historical racing and games of skill have helped increase purses at Oaklawn from about $11 million in 2001 to $28.4 million in 2017, according to racing commission figures.
Officials representing the pros and cons of Issue 4 recently debated the proposal in a radio interview. Alex Gray, counsel for Driving Arkansas Forward, the political group behind the proposed amendment, said, “Look at what’s happened in other communities with casinos. You haven’t seen the rise in crime. You haven’t seen any of this other stuff that opponents will say. What you have seen is an increase in jobs, an increase in economic opportunity.”
Gray said Issue 4 will generate an estimated $66 million a year for the state, $33 million to the host cities and counties and $25 million to Oaklawn and Southland. “It’s time to keep our dollars in state. It could be used for lowering income taxes, for teacher funding, for a match for highway funding. Then you’re going to see infrastructure in those specific locations, increase in helping school districts, increase in helping the general budgets in those areas,” he said.
However, Arkansas Family Council President and Founder Jerry Cox has urged voters to oppose Issue 4. He said, “This is a bad bet for the people of Russellville, a bad bet for the people of Pine Bluff. If you look at neighboring states, their poverty rates are just as high or higher than Arkansas so no state has ever been able to gamble its way to prosperity.”
Cox also stated the casinos would take money out of the local communities and give it to the Oklahoma Indian tribes that are financing the pro-Issue 4 campaign. “They’re not here to do us any favors. They’re not here to help our schools or our roads. They’re here to make a lot of money off the people of Arkansas,” Cox said.
If voters pass Issue 4, the two host cities and counties still will have to approve it before license applications can be filed.
