Benton County liquor push raises support questions

The effort to adopt “wet” county liquor laws in Benton County is funded primarily by members of the Helen and Sam Walton family, with one political observer curious how the funding patterns will change if the issue makes it to the ballot.

Through March 31, Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, grandsons of the Wal-Mart Stores founders, have each contributed $110,000 to the effort to collect signatures. The only other contributor is Casey General Store. The Ankeny, Iowa-based company has contributed $10,000 to the cause.

“Keep Dollars in Benton County” rolled out its plan Feb. 13 to have a wet-dry question on the November general election ballot.

Marshall Ney, an attorney with Mitchell Williams Law in Rogers who is managing the effort, said much has changed since 1944 when the question was last presented to Benton County voters. In 1944, the population of Benton County was approximately 38,000, and now stands at 220,000.

In order to place the wet/dry issue on the November ballot, by state law, 38% of registered voters in Benton County must sign a legal petition confirming their desire to bring the matter to a vote. Ney said about 40,000 certified signatures are required.

Keep Dollars in Benton County hired Lawrenceville, Ga.-based National Ballot Access (NBA) to gather signatures needed to place the question on the November ballot. Signatures are submitted to the Benton County Clerk for verification.

Citing figures from an economic impact report from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Ney has said there is a “compelling economic issue” behind the push for a law change. Using economic multipliers and inter-industry coefficients to estimate economic impact, the economic impact of allowing retail sales of alcohol was estimated at $33,044,913 for the year 2010.

In the most recent campaign finance report filed April 13 with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, the effort has collected $230,000 in contributions and spent $219,513. According to the filings, $219,459 of the expenses were paid to National Ballot Access.

Larry Henry, the managing editor for 5NEWS and a longtime observer of Northwest Arkansas politics, said the “Keep Dollars in Benton County” group is essentially a “pass through” organization for the Walton grandsons to finance the effort. And while that is perfectly legitimate, Henry said it will be interesting to see if the group will generate grassroots support.

“I think the litmus test will be to see how many donations … how much of that grassroots support they will get for a media campaign if this issue makes it to the ballot,” Henry said. “You’ve got to have that (grassroots).”

Henry said both “money and bodies” to fund and support an education effort will be important during the general election campaign if the Walton grandsons hope to win in November.