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Casino Campaign Announces Deal With Cherokee Nation

2 min read

LITTLE ROCK – A group hoping to put a casino legalization measure on the Arkansas ballot this fall announced an agreement Thursday with Cherokee Nation Entertainment to operate one of the proposed casinos.

Arkansas Wins in 2016 said the deal allows the Cherokee Nation group to operate a casino proposed in Washington County in northwest Arkansas if the measure is approved by voters. The tribe’s gaming and hospitality company owns and operates nine casino properties in Oklahoma.

“Our intention from the outset of this campaign has been for the casinos authorized by this amendment to be operated by well-established, credible firms in the gaming industry,” Robert Coon, a spokesman for the casino campaign, said in a statement. “In addition to creating new opportunities for jobs, tourism and economic development, Cherokee Nation Entertainment brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in the gaming industry to this effort.”

Coon said the campaign has not ruled out similar agreements for the other two proposed casinos. Arkansas Wins is trying to gather the nearly 85,000 signatures from registered voters needed to place its proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

Arkansas Wins says the project would not involve efforts to seek tribal land trust status.

“It’s been an interest of ours for many years to leverage our nearly 30 years’ experience in gaming, hospitality and entertainment into markets outside of Oklahoma,” said Shawn Slaton, chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses, the parent company of Cherokee Nation Entertainment. This commercial gaming venture is a natural evolution of our business model that will be good for the state, northwest Arkansas and the Cherokee Nation. “

The ballot measure also proposes casinos in Boone and Miller counties and writes the name of a private company into the state Constitution to operate them. The group has until July 8 to submit its petitions. Arkansas already has some casino gambling, with electronic games such as video poker offered at a Hot Springs race track and a West Memphis dog track.

The proposed amendment would set up a five-member commission appointed by the governor to regulate them. It also would require the casinos to pay the state an 18 percent tax on net gambling receipts.

Jerry Cox, executive director of the Family Council Action Committee, said the conservative group was planning to file paperwork to campaign against the measure. The committee has opposed past efforts to expand gambling in Arkansas.

“Whether the Cherokees are running the casino or not really doesn’t change the harm the casino will cause to the people in the community,” Cox said.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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