Gambling In Arkansas

4 Pages 1011 Words

Casinos in Arkansas: It is not What They Will Do to Us, but What They Will Do for Us
What could casinos do for you, whether you gambled or not? Well, NPR (National Public Radio) had a story on some Choctaw Indians that lived in Neshoba County, Ms. NPR reported that in the 1960’s the Indians were economically depressed. They were so depressed that sixty percent of them did not even have indoor plumbing. Then they open up a casino and soon another. They brought prosperity to themselves and surrounding counties. The Choctaw’s are Mississippi’s second largest employer.
Iowa’s casinos provide thousands of dollars into the state. Since 1991, the RDA (Riverboat Development Authority) has awarded $33,931,755 in grants to various no-profit organizations. Education received $7,577,480 just in grants. My wife and I visited Iowa last month. You can tell that Iowa is putting their casino tax dollars to work. The streets are well maintained and wide. None of this happened overnight. The support for riverboat gambling support was sixty percent then the support raised to eighty percent in 1999.
Tunica is doing so well that they have plans on opening their tenth casino. The casinos have brought more than just 320 million in gaming taxes into the state. They have brought 2.5 million in room and restaurant taxes. The casinos have brought so many jobs to Tunica that they have a shortage of workers.
If casinos can provide all this prosperity for other states, why does Arkansas not have any casinos? Arkansas has a horse track in Hot Springs, and a dog track in West Memphis. Gambling is already here in Arkansas, but the Arkansas State Law states: anyone who sets up a gambling device at which money or property can be won or lost by chance, shall be deemed guilty or a misdemeanor.
The way the law reads the horse tracks and dog track need to shut down, unless Arkansas does not consider them as a gambling device. However, th...