Laguna Pueblo officially revealed that it is to support the compact, which was proposed after being arranged by the administration of the Governor Susana Martinez. The compact in question concerns the Navajo Nation plus four other tribes and has recently been opposed by Laguna Pueblo.
The offered gambling agreement is referred to as a result of several years of negotiations with a number of tribes. The five tribes that reached a settlement with the Governor’s administration were Acoma Pueblo, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Navajo Nation, Jemez Pueblo and the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
However, as reported by CasinoNewsDaily earlier in March, Laguna Pueblo shared its deepest concerns that the region of New Mexico is currently oversaturated with casinos. Still, it seems that it had reconsidered the situation, as the Governor of Laguna Pueblo – Virgil Siow – announced in a news release that they had “consistently supported all of the 2015 tribes in their desire to negotiate a fair and equitable compact with the state of New Mexico”.
Siow further explained that the Native American tribe remained concerned on the matter.
There was a meeting between lawmakers and tribal Governors that took place at the end of last week. The negotiations lasted for several hours. At the meeting, the Laguna Lt. Governor David Martinez explained that his tribe was against a certain arrangement in the offered compact that would provide tribes with population over 75,000 with the opportunity to build a new casino in a period of six to ten years.
There are currently three Navajo casinos in the region – Flowing Water Navajo Casino located near Shiprock, Fire Rock Navajo Casino near Gallup and Northern Edge Navajo Casino close to Fruitland.
A total of six amendments were voted against by the committee. Now the compact between the regulator and the tribes must be voted by the Senate first. If the latter votes in favor of the agreement, the compact would pass further to the House.
In case the compact passes the Legislature, it would have to be signed by Gov. Martinez. Then it would have to get final approval of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The deputy chief of staff of Gov. Martinez’s and lead negotiator – Ms. Jessica Hernandez – commented on the proposed agreement and explained to lawmakers it is socially responsible and is expected to bring stability to the gambling market of the region of New Mexico for at least twenty years.
As reported by reputable local media, according to Ms. Hernandez, the compact “balances a lot of different interests” and would in addition contribute to the increase of the state’s revenues in exchange for providing the tribes with exclusive gaming rights.
