The entities are owned by Jim Thompson of Blue Eye, Mo., and Bob Womack of Branson. Issue 5 would allow casino gaming in Washington, Miller and Boone Counties by embedding in the Arkansas Constitution the three entities allowed to operate the casinos: Washington County Gaming, LLC Miller County Gaming, LLC and, in Boone County, Arkansas Gaming and Resorts, LLC, or those entities’ successors or assignees. It is not surprising that no state has ever voted for something like this.” Worse, the people who live in communities where casinos will be located are being denied the right to vote on what they want in their own communities. This is an open invitation to corruption and unimaginable forms of gambling. Arkansas will have no say over who gets the licenses, who operates the licenses or even what kind of gambling they can offer, since the type of gaming is defined by other states in the amendment. It is a terrible and dishonest amendment that will be bad for our state. In a joint statement, Troy Keeping, president and general manager of Southland Park Gaming and Racing, and Eric Jackson, Oaklawn general manager, said, “We are opposed for the same reason Governor Hutchinson and others are opposed. Oaklawn and Southland both operate casinos. Oaklawn has donated $59,500 while Delaware North, the parent company of Southland, has donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Arkansas’ Values/Stop Casinos Now, according to the Committee’s Arkansas Ethics Commission filing report. The group that opposes a voter-initiated act to authorize three casinos in Arkansas has received $109,500 in campaign donations from Oaklawn Racing and Gaming and Southland Park Gaming and Racing.

Oaklawn casino