Slot Machine Group Spends Another $78K+ On Petition Effort

Arkansas Lottery, Casinos, ,

In January the group Arcade Arkansas spent $78,408.58 on its petition drive to bring casino-style gambling machines to Arkansas, according to reports filed this week with the state Ethics Commission.

Over $70,000 of the group’s funds went to Spur Line Strategies for “Signature/Political Consulting,” the report indicated.

Arcade Arkansas is putting serious money into its effort to amend the state constitution to bring casino-style gambling machines to Arkansas.

The group has spent nearly $359,000 on the effort since last summer.

If they are successful, the amendment will legalize some 15,000 gambling machines statewide under the Arkansas Lottery and could create miniature casinos all over the state — with little or no oversight to prevent fraud or corruption.

Photo Credit: Win win win! by Domas Mituzas, on Flickr

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Planned Parenthood Endorsing Candidates in Arkansas

Abortion, , , ,

Planned Parenthood’s Arkansas group has endorsed two candidates ahead of the March 3 primaries, and presumably will support others between now and November.

Nationwide, Planned Parenthood has pledged to spend at least $45 million on elections this year.

The group’s goal is to unseat pro-life officials and elect candidates who support abortion.

Besides endorsing candidates, the organization’s political action committee also has been actively fundraising in Arkansas.

According to the most recent reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office, the group has somewhere around $13,000 – $14,000 that it could spend campaigning in Arkansas this year.

Arkansas is the second most pro-life state in America, and most Arkansans believe abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only in certain circumstances. But that doesn’t mean groups like Planned Parenthood are throwing in the towel.

Pro-lifers need to remain engaged in Arkansas to make sure the state continues standing up for the lives of unborn children.

Photo Credit: Planned Parenthood Sticker by dogra on Flickr.

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Will the Arkansas Lottery Resurrect Its Plans for Keno?

Arkansas Lottery

As Mark Twain is credited with saying, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

On Thursday the Arkansas Legislature’s Lottery Oversight subcommittee met to review reports from the Arkansas Lottery’s director and consulting firm.

Among other topics, legislators heard about ways the Arkansas Lottery could grow revenue in the future.

One of the charts shown to lawmakers appeared to highlight Keno as a lottery game for Arkansas to consider.

We’ve been down this road before.

Lottery officials lobbied for Keno in 2013 and 2014 as part of an unsuccessful push to bring “monitor games” — casino-style gambling machines — to Arkansas.

Lawmakers soundly rejected that proposal.

In a typical Keno drawing, players choose upwards of 10 or 20 different numbers between 1 and 80. If their winning numbers are drawn, they win a prize.

But Keno is different from other lottery games. While drawings for Powerball or MegaMillions happen once a day, drawings for Keno usually take place every few minutes.

Its fast pace makes Keno a popular casino-style game, because players can pick numbers and place bets over and over again in a short amount of time.

As a result, Keno often is played in a live room full of gamblers.

One of the reasons lawmakers rejected efforts that would have brought Keno to Arkansas in 2014 was that they did not want the state creating miniature casinos in bars, convenience stores, and gas stations as part of the Lottery.

That’s something that could happen if Arkansas authorizes Keno or similar games under the state-run lottery.

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