Missouri: Supporters file required signatures to put Lake of the Ozarks casino plan on the November ballot

Lake of Ozarks in Missouri

2024-05-06

United States

Reading time 2:31 min

Voters in Missouri will get a chance to expand land-based gambling this year after supporters of adding a casino at Lake of the Ozarks submitted more than 320,000 signatures this weekend to put the question on the ballot in November.

Through an effort being bankrolled by a lake-area business venture and casino giant Bally’s, organizers said the resort "will provide a year-round economic boost to the region."

The next step to a question appearing on the ballot is a review of the signatures by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to ensure the casino backers submitted the required amount. It should be noted that to get on the ballot, circulators needed to collect a minimum of 170,000 signatures. It will go into effect if more than 50% of voters say "yes".

The current state constitution only allows casinos to be constructed on the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. State law currently allows only 13 casinos to operate in the state. If approved, the new casino is envisioned as a resort on the portion of the Osage River below the Bagnell Dam on the south side of U.S. 54.

"Specifically, the new convention center is a much-needed addition that will benefit all of the existing businesses in the Tri County region and beyond," supporters said in a statement Sunday, as reported by the St.Louis Post-Dispatch.

The project is expected to create 500 construction jobs and more than 700 permanent jobs. State revenue generated from this project would support Missouri schools, specifically early-childhood literacy programs in public institutions of elementary education, the proposal says.

RIS Inc., which is owned by lake-area real estate developer Gary Prewitt, has provided much of the funding and planning for the casino. The company has built retail shopping areas and operates lakeside bars and restaurants in the region. For its part, Bally’s, which operates casinos across the nation, also has provided significant financial backing to the signature collection effort.

Fundraising reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission show Bally’s and Eldon, Mo.-brd RIS Inc. have raised more than $3.7 million for the Osage River Gaming and Convention political action committee to collect signatures and conduct a public relations campaign aimed at convincing voters to support the plan.

The push to build the proposed casino, however, has run into opposition from a group linked to the Osage Nation that also wants to operate a tribal gambling palace on the mid-Missouri lake.

In March, a PAC was formed to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment. It is financed largely by Strategic Capital Consulting, a politically connected lobbying operation representing the Oklahoma-brd tribe. The firm is headed by former House Speaker Steve Tilley, who is a close adviser to Gov. Mike Parson.

The Osage Nation has been working for years to build a casino in Missouri. In 2021, the tribe announced it had submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Interior for approval of a casino near the town of Lake Ozark. At the time, the tribe said it hoped a federal decision on whether the proposal complies with the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would take no more than two years.

If the tribal application is approved, the Department of Interior would transfer the casino land into federal trust with tribal sovereignty to the land and casino gaming rights that are exempt from Missouri laws and regulations.

Under its plan, the tribe is attempting to reestablish and expand upon its cultural presence and ancestral ties to the region. In addition to a casino, plans include a convention hotel, an entertainment complex, and a tribal office.

The Lake of the Ozarks project is one of two chances that Missouri voters would get to expand gambling this year after a coalition of the state’s professional sports teams also managed to submit 340,000 voter signatures for a sports betting proposal Thursday.