Arkansas Southern Baptists Endorse Issue 2 to Keep Casino Out of Russellville

Gambling

On Wednesday the Arkansas Baptist State Convention endorsed a ballot issue that would repeal one of the casino licenses in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Constitution currently authorizes casinos in Garland County, Jefferson County, Crittenden County, and Pope County.

Issue 2 is a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that the group Local Voters in Charge placed on the ballot by circulating petitions via Arkansas’ initiative process.

If passed, Issue 2 would remove Pope County from the list of locations where casino gaming is allowed. Under Issue 2, the State of Arkansas would be unable to authorize a casino in any community without a new constitutional amendment and without local voter approval at a special election.

A vote for Issue 2 would keep the casino out of Russellville and it would prevent any additional casinos from being opened in Arkansas without a new constitutional amendment and without local voter approval at a special election.

You can learn more about issues appearing on the 2024 ballot here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Casino Pushes for Rule Change Allowing Statewide Gambling Online

Gambling

KFSM reports Saracen Casino in pushing for a rule change that would effectively allow casino-style gambling statewide online.

Under current law, gambling is allowed at Arkansas’ three casinos — Oaklawn, Southland, and Saracen — and sports betting is allowed online via smart phones.

The casino’s proposed rule change reportedly would let people gamble on table games and slots online from anywhere in Arkansas.

Family Council opposes gambling — but online gambling is a particularly serious problem. The rule change could turn smart phones into pocketsize casinos.

Compulsive gamblers could gamble — and lose — 24 hours a day from anywhere in the state. That kind of gambling ruins lives, tears families apart, and hurts communities.

We already have seen how gambling addiction has become a serious problem in our state. Earlier this year the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it has seen a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — driven largely by sports betting.

Legalizing other types of online gambling would simply make these problems worse.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Lawmakers Approve Sports Betting on Smart Phones

Casinos,

On Tuesday the Arkansas Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee approved a state rule change that permits sports betting online via mobile devices.

The new rule is slated to take effect in a few days.

Under this new rule, gamblers will be able to bet on sporting events online via a computer, smart phone, or other mobile device from anywhere in Arkansas.

As we have said for weeks, when voters passed Amendment 100 in 2018, they authorized casino gambling at certain locations in Arkansas — not from anywhere in the state over the Internet.

This rule change permits sports betting anywhere in Arkansas. That isn’t what voters had in mind back in 2018.

It’s impossible to monitor Internet gambling to be sure state and federal laws are enforced.

No matter how many safeguards and security features are in place, there’s no way to guarantee that children won’t gamble via these smart phone apps.

People who gamble online face a serious risk of developing a gambling addiction, and some research indicates that people who engage in sports betting are twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.

Arkansas already has enough problems from gambling. These new rules only make those problems worse.

Bottom line: Online sports betting is a bad bet for Arkansas.

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