The House Rules Committee on Wednesday voted down a proposal to change the county where one of Arkansas' four new casinos may locate.
House Bill 1563 by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Clarksville, would change Amendment 100 to the Arkansas Constitution to allow the licensing of a casino in Johnson County instead of neighboring Pope County.
The amendment -- which Arkansans approved in November -- allows casinos at existing race tracks in West Memphis and Hot Springs in addition to casinos in Jefferson and Pope counties. However, since the referendum was approved, Pope County residents and officials have lobbied hard to prevent gambling from making its way to their community.
Pilkington -- whose district includes all of Johnson County and a portion of Pope County -- said the change would ease concerns of his Pope County constituents while providing an economic boost to Johnson County, where people are much more amenable to a casino.
"This is not only fulfilling what I think the citizens of Arkansas voted for, which was to create four casinos in Arkansas, which if you read the amendment it says 'shall,'" he said. "I think this is also creating economic opportunity for my constituents in Johnson County who desperately need it."
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
No committee members raised any concerns about the legislation in the meeting, and no one spoke against the proposal. But in a split voice vote, the committee voted against the bill.
Pilkington said afterward that he was surprised that bill was defeated, but he said he was willing to work with other lawmakers to draft a bill that could garner enough support.
The General Assembly has been hesitant to make changes to constitutional amendments voted on by the people, based on a 1951 Arkansas Supreme Court decision, but Pilkington's bill argues that new court precedent leads to the conclusion that the General Assembly could make changes to constitutional amendments with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
Several House Rules Committee members said Wednesday that they voted against Pilkington's measure, fearing the precedent it would set.
"It could open the floodgates," said Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, noting that there would be proposals to make a variety of changes to different constitutional amendments.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of casinos in Arkansas]
Several members also said there were other counties that wanted to request the fourth casino license, and they wanted to wait until those proposals could be heard before making a decision.
Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton, said the issue will end up in court regardless of what happens.
The committee on Wednesday did advance a Senate Bill by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, that would codify a Racing Commission rule that requires local letters of support for casinos to come from officials in office at the time of the casino license application.
The legislation was prompted by letters of support written by outgoing Pope County officials despite a lack of support from incoming officials and voters there. Those letters were sent before a casino application has been made.
Metro on 02/28/2019