Oaklawn Park is one of two places in the state which allow slot machine gambling.
A group opposed to an Arkansas statement constitutional amendment which would legalize casinos filed a lawsuit with the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday. The suit was filed by a group named “Protect Arkansas’ Value/Stop Casinos Now“.
The lawsuit came only days after a statewide ttelevision ads campaigning for the casino amendment began airing in Arkansas. The group behind those ads, Arkansas Wins in 2016, launched its campaign to tout the measure as a revenue generator for the state of Arkansas.
Committee to Protect Arkansas’ Values
The Committee to Protect Arkansas’ Values says it wants to keep Arkansas officials from county any votes in favor of the casino referendum. The suit claims that the language on the ballot initiative is misleading in an attempt to get voters to vote against their best interest. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge approved the wording on the ball on June 1.
In the filing, lawyers for the Committee to Protect Arkansas’ Value state that the wording on the initiative implies it would allow visitors to the casinos to wager on sporting events. Sports betting is a popular pasttime for Americans, despite the 46-state federal ban on the practice. The casino amendment would not legalize sports betting in Arkansas, though the lawsuit claims that is what the ballot implies.
Casino Gambling in Arkansas
At the moment, the state strictly prohibits most forms of traditional casino gambling. Arkansas does allow parimutuel wagering on horse and dog races, along with casino-style gaming machines like slot machines and video poker. This hybrid form of racino gambling takes place in two locations in the state: Oaklawn Park Racing & Gaming in Hot Springs and Southland Park Gaming & Racing in West Memphis.
AG Leslie Rutledge has opposed gaming measure before. In May 2016, she rejected a casino ballot proposal submitted by Little Rock-based attorney, Cal McCastlain, who is associated with the Dover Dixon Horne law firm. AG Rutledge claimed the bill contained ambiguous langauge, while failing to provide a complete summary of the amendment.
Wording of the Legislation
The legislation itself defines the wagering on sports betting as part of “casino gaming and gaming”. One passage in the text states, “Defining casino gaming and gaming as dealing, operating, carrying on, conducting, maintaining, or exposing for play any game play with cards, dice, equipment, or any mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic device or machine for money, property, checks, credit, or any representative value, as well as accepting wagers on sporting events or other events, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any game, device, or type of wagering permitted at a casino operated within any one or more of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Texas as of November 8, 2016, or as subsequently permitted thereafter.”
While that is a great deal of legalese, it suggests that sports betting in casinos would be considered legal in Arkansas if the amendment passed. The passage might indicate a desire to have sports betting legalized if the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Act (PASPA) of 1992 is ever struck down. The PASPA bans all forms of sports gambling in 46 states, while restricting fully legal sportsbooks to Nevada only.
In Case Sports Betting Is Legalized
Arkansas lawmakers might be slipping the language into the bill in order to avoid a protracted battle over legal sportsbook, if ever the PASPA was repealed.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has called for federal legislation to regulate sports betting, while MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has suggested he would be willing to discuss legalizing sports betting. Silver and Manfred represent two of the four sports leagues which lobbied to have the PASPA passed in the first place.
Attempts to End the PASPA Law
At the time the bill was written, New Jersey and the sports leagues were awaiting a pertinent verdict from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. New Jersey was challenging the PASPA, but had lost several rounds of debate in court. Since the Arkansas bill was written, New Jersey lost that appeal, so the U.S. court system is unlikely to strike down PASPA. Instead, the U.S. Congress will have to repeal the law.
The timing of the Arkansas AG’s singing off on the bill, as well as the wording on the ballot initiative, might have something to do with the inclusion of sports betting. June 1 would have been before the PASPA judgment in the appellate court, so the Attorney General might have preferred to have wording inserted into the ballot initiative, in case the federal law was changed.
Wording on the Ballot
A look at the ballot shows a one-sentence explanation of the vote, with no mention of sports betting. Issue 5’s wording only states that “Yes” approves casinos in 3 counties, while “No” opposes the 3 casinos.
If people are allowed to vote, the referendum would decide whether Washington, Boone, and Miller counties get casino. The question was placed on the ballot when 84,859 signatures were collected for a petition before the due date of July 8.
Arkansas Gaming Commission
Besides legalizing casinos, the bill would create a 5-member State Gaming Commission. This commission would regulate casino, while assessing them an 18% tax on all gambling which takes place inside their venues.
The construction, financial, and economic sectors of Arkansas are backing the initiative. So are the private and tribal gaming interests which would own the casinos. Robert Coon with Impact Management, a notable PR firm, has been hired to help promote the initiative.
