Family Council Action Committee Opposes Casino Amendment

Gambling,

The following is a press release from Family Council Action Committee.

On Friday Arkansas Wins in 2016 submitted petition signatures to the Arkansas Secretary of State requesting certification to place a casino amendment on the November ballot.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement against the amendment, saying, “This amendment allows a group of Missouri businessmen to write themselves and their gambling operation into the Arkansas Constitution.”

Cox said, “This amendment creates a monopoly allowing out-of-state businessmen to build casinos in Texarkana, Fayetteville, and Harrison. That’s bad enough, but the fact that no one else would be allowed to do the same creates a monopoly of the worst sort. Even if every voter in these cities opposes the casinos, they could still be built if the amendment passes in the statewide vote this November.”

Cox said the amendment lets casinos operate without enough accountability. “The way the amendment is written the Arkansas Legislature won’t be able to regulate them. It specifically states that any kind of gambling that is legal in Nevada and in several other states must be allowed at these casinos. In 10 or 20 years, there is not telling what kind of gambling they will be doing in Nevada and other states, but whatever it is, it will be allowed right here in Arkansas.”

Cox noted that casino gambling has not been an economic boon elsewhere. “Tunica County, Mississippi, has nine casinos. Just across the Mississippi River in Lee County, Arkansas, there are no casinos. The poverty levels in these two counties is almost identical. It’s the same with casinos in Oklahoma. At best their economy is stagnant. On the downside, communities with casinos see higher rates of bankruptcy, higher crime rates, higher divorce rates, and a greater need for community services to assist women and children in need. It’s no coincidence that pawn shops are usually next door to casinos. Arkansas won’t be any different. This is an industry that preys on poor people.”

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Arkansas Sues Obama Admin. Over School Bathroom “Guidelines”

Transgender,

Joint_blog_close_PS-0774On May 13 the Obama Administration’s Education Department and Justice Department issued “guidelines” instructing public schools and most colleges and universities to let biological males who claim to be female use the women’s restrooms, locker rooms, showers, and similar facilities at school–and vice versa.

In response, today the State of Arkansas joined nine other states in suing the federal government for its overreach.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office writes,

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today, along with nine other states, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agencies and officials, which last month issued a directive requiring Arkansas public schools to open gender-specific bathrooms and locker rooms to both sexes. In addition to representing the State of Arkansas, Rutledge is also representing the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services. The federal government’s new directive threatens the common sense policies of the Division and the important funds supporting the Division’s work.

“The Obama Administration is using intimidation tactics in an attempt to force local schools to adopt a radical social policy that raises serious safety concerns for school-age children,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “From a young age, children are taught not to be bullies, yet that is exactly what the federal government is doing by threatening the loss of funding if schools do not comply with this directive – a directive that unlawfully ignores the role of Congress. This proposal, which is part of a liberal social agenda, will disrupt the learning environment and be a detriment to the very children it intends to help, which is why today’s action is in the best interest of our students.”

The Obama Administration is attempting to rewrite Congress’s use of the term “sex” in federal law to mean “gender identity.” Current state law and federal regulations allow schools to maintain separate facilities based upon sex. The recent action by the Administration circumvents this established law by ignoring the appropriate legislative process necessary to change it. It also supersedes local school districts’ authority to address student issues on an individualized, professional and private basis.

In addition to Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming have joined today’s filing by Nebraska.

You can read about the Obama Administration’s recent actions that prompted this lawsuit here and here.

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Marijuana Amendment a Brazen Attempt at Marijuana Monopoly

Marijuana

The following is a press release from Family Council Action Committee.

On Friday supporters of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016 submitted petition signatures requesting their proposal be placed on the ballot this November.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “Compared to the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, this proposed constitutional amendment is a different kind of bad. This amendment will bring a marijuana business monopoly to Arkansas. A five-member, unelected commission will pretty much control the industry. Only eight people will be allowed to grow marijuana in Arkansas, and only forty will be allowed to sell it. This is a brazen move funded by the alcohol industry to build an Arkansas marijuana monopoly.

“Unlike the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, which lets people grow their own marijuana at home, this amendment deliberately puts all the marijuana growing, processing, and selling into the hands of just a few select people,” Cox said.

“It’s hard to tell which one of the two marijuana measures is worse. One allows just about anyone grow it at home, and the other creates a monopoly. Both measures allow anyone with pain or nausea to get a marijuana card with just a simple note from a doctor. Both measures allow marijuana stores in cities and towns around Arkansas. Both measures allow marijuana cardholders to avoid penalties from drug testing, skirt employment rules, and use it while enrolled in school. Both would allow children, with parental consent, to acquire a card to smoke marijuana.”

Cox called both marijuana proposals bad for Arkansans. “The end result if either measure passes will be terrible for the people of Arkansas. Neither measure is medicine. There is no prescription from a doctor. Marijuana won’t be dispensed through pharmacies. No one will regulate the dosage, strength, or content. Anyone with pain or nausea can qualify to use it. Ninety-seven percent of ‘medical marijuana’ users in other states are otherwise-healthy people who claim some minor ailment. Very few are cancer patients or people suffering from serious diseases. What’s more the primary delivery method is smoking, a behavior universally deemed unhealthy. Their goal is not medicine; it is total legalization.”

Cox said both marijuana proposals will cost taxpayers money. “Taxpayers will foot the bill. Policing this industry will cost millions. Our State Foster Care system is overrun with children in need of homes because of drug-addicted parents. How many more children will land in foster care at taxpayers’ expense if Arkansas legalizes marijuana? The list of problems in other states should serve as a warning for Arkansas not to go down that same path.”

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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