Legislation to require applicants for casino licenses to have endorsements from current local officials cleared a Senate committee Thursday by what appeared to be a vote shy under Senate rules.
Five of eight members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee were present when they had a voice vote on Senate Bill 185 by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville. The chairman, Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne, was elsewhere when the bill was considered, so the meeting was run at the time by the vice chairman, Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado.
The Senate's rules require aye votes of five senators for a committee to advance a bill. Four senators said they voted for the bill: Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville; Will Bond, D-Little Rock; Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana; and Davis. Garner dissented.
Davis' district includes Pope County, while Garner's includes part of Jefferson County. Both counties are named in a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in those counties.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of casinos in Arkansas]
Asked why he ruled that the bill cleared the committee, Garner said, "I saw the will of the committee, and I knew that with some members being gone, that the will of the committee at the time, I decided to take it."
No senator asked for a roll call vote on the bill, he said. The Senate's eight-member committees occasionally approve bills with fewer than five affirmative votes, but that tends to happen more often at the end of sessions when lawmakers are scurrying to wrap up business. The legislative session concluded its third week Thursday and resumes Monday.
Davis told the Senate committee that her bill would mirror recent changes to a draft of proposed casino rules by the Arkansas Racing Commission "to ensure that whenever a county judge or quorum court or a mayor submit a letter of support for a casino in a specific county that it accompanies an application."
The commission drafted rules for the licensing and operation of casinos in the aftermath of voters approving Amendment 100 in the November general election.
Amendment 100 allows for casinos to be placed in Pope and Jefferson counties, but as a condition, the applicants must get letters of support from either the county judge or quorum court and the mayor, if the casino is to be located in a city.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
The commission's proposed rule goes a step further in requiring that the letters of support come from current officeholders and only when accompanied by a casino license application.
SB185 is aimed at invalidating letters of support from now-former Pope County and Russellville elected officials for a casino proposed by Gulfside Partnership of Mississippi. Those letters were written shortly before the officials left office, and no casino application has been filed.
Pope County voters rejected Amendment 100 and passed an initiated ordinance that requires local officials to get voter approval before endorsing a proposed casino.
"I understand the issue and concerns with the citizens of Pope County," Garner said. "Obviously the constitutional amendment passed across the state, but I understand this is a local issue."
Garner said Jefferson County is in his Senate district, which "has had a completely different kind of mood and feelings toward its casino.
"I believe that it's overwhelmingly positively supported there. The vote count was supportive. As part of my district, I have been working to make sure that it is the big success as possible. My only issue with this is that you also include Jefferson County, which I think is a different set of circumstances and issue," he said.
But Davis said, "I think really this is fair language.
"I think that we should be about setting policy that is good policy for the state of Arkansas, and I believe that's what the Racing Commission has done with their proposed rules," she said. "I think it is fair to say that in any type of application process it is crazy to say you can receive a letter of support ... before an application even exists.
"Currently, there is not even rules adopted in place for an application process, so how can a letter of support come months before there is even a process in place?"
Davis said her bill is trying to mirror good policy proposed by the Racing Commission "to ensure that we have a fair, open and transparent application process, and that's exactly what this does, and I just want to be able to support the Racing Commission with this bill."
There is nothing in her legislation that prohibits a casino in Jefferson County, and the county judge and other elected officials support a casino in Jefferson County, she said.
No Senate committee member questioned Davis about the constitutionality of her bill.
Whether a constitutional amendment can legally be changed or clarified by the Legislature is up for debate, Alex Gray, an attorney who helped draft Amendment 100 for the Driving Arkansas Forward ballot committee, said last month.
Casey Castleberry, Gulfside's attorney, said last month that the bill is "unconstitutional" under Amendment 100.
SB185 states that the "General Assembly finds it necessary to fulfill the purpose of the Arkansas Casino Gaming Amendment of 2018, Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 100, by providing clarity regarding the letter of support required for a casino applicant in order for a county or city official to fulfill his or her responsibility to represent the desire of the citizens within the affected city and county."
After the Senate committee meeting, Davis said she believes her bill is constitutional because "it is not changing the amendment in any way.
"The amendment is silent in that regard. That's what gives the Racing Commission authority to set up rules for this process, and I am simply just supporting rules ... the Racing Commission has out right now."
Davis said she thinks representatives of the Quapaw Nation, whose officials have indicated that they want to apply for a casino license in Jefferson County, oppose her bill.
Quapaw Nation spokesman Sean Harrison said Thursday in an email, "In general right now, Quapaw Nation is not commenting while we await the outcome of the decisions at the Racing Commission and state Legislature, and until we can make our casino application official."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he would sign SB185.
Amendment 100 also allows for casinos at Southland Gaming and Racing in West Memphis and Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot Springs, but doesn't require them to obtain letters of support from local officials. Under a 2005 law, Oaklawn and Southland have been operating electronic games of skill since local voters approved the games.
A Section on 02/01/2019