Yesterday, February 28, a New Mexico legislative committee voted in favor of a casino compact that five local Indian tribes negotiated with Gov. Susana Martinez.
The five tribes are Acoma Pueblo, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and Jemez Pueblo. They will now have to wait for the local Legislature to approve the compact. Several tribes, however, opposed the aforementioned agreement. They signed similar compacts with the state back in 2007.
Yesterday, the specially appointed Committee on Compacts voted 15-1 in favor of the agreement, after it discussed the matter for almost nine hours.
Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) was the only official to cast a negative vote. He argued that the state is already oversaturated with gambling. Sen. Smith also expressed his concerns that the approval of the compact would mean that the number of slot machines on the territory of New Mexico might reach 20,000.
Gov. Martinez’s administration informed the committee that currently, there are 26 gambling venues in the state, although some of them only feature several slot machines. If the compact gets the nod from the state Legislature, five more casinos might open doors over the next twenty or so years.
The committee did not have the authority to change any of the provisions in the compact. It only advised that certain aspects should be renegotiated between the tribes and Gov. Martinez.
As already mentioned, the compact will now go to the Senate for the necessary approval. If the Legislature gives it the green light, tribes would have the regulatory fees they need to pay reduced. Yet, they will have to share with the state a larger portion of their revenues.
Furthermore, owners of the casinos will be allowed to keep their properties open 24/7. And high roller players will be offered certain credits as well as free food, lodging, and other privileges.
As mentioned above, there were several tribes that did not seem keen on the new compact. For instance, David Martinez, lieutenant governor of Laguna Pueblo, expressed his disapproval of the provision under which tribes with population over 75,000 people would be allowed to launch a casino within the next 6 years. At present, only the Navajo Nation meets this requirement.
James Rivera, a Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Council member, objected to the double-digit tax on revenue from gambling activities, proposed in the compact. The pueblo terminated its negotiations with Gov. Martinez last year. It has turned to the federal government, in order to renew its compact.
Fort Sill Apache Tribe, which has been interested in opening a casino since 2008, was widely discussed during the yesterday meeting. Jeff Haozous, Chairman of the tribe, argued that the compact should be reviewed. He expressed his disapproval of a particular provision, which would prevent tribes from launching Class III gambling venues on tribal land that was not held in trust by the federal government before 1988.
Last week, Fort Sill requested from the New Mexico Supreme Court to make Gov. Martinez negotiate an exclusive casino compact for the tribe.
It seems that Sen. Smith’s district includes the lands inhabited by Fort Sill. He pointed out that the state administration and the tribes should remove the provision that excludes the aforementioned tribe. Yet, the committee voted against his proposal.
Committee members also rejected a language, which proposed for the construction of casinos to be slowed down from 6 to 10 years.
Proponents of the compact stated that all the changes made would need to be sent to tribal officials for their approval. And this would mean that the Legislature would have less time to consider the compact and to approve it. In addition, it should be approved by the U.S. Department of Interior.
The state legislative body has until June 30, when the current agreements of the tribes are set to expire.
