All of the gaming tribes in New Mexico are now operating under Class III tribal state gaming compacts, although the last compact to take effect was neither approved nor rejected by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Under circumstances such as this, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 says that a compact is considered “deemed approved” as long as it is consistent with IGRA. The last tribe to be so “deemed” is the Pueblo of Pojoaque. That makes 17 tribes that have signed the compact. The notice of the compact was published in the Federal Register, which makes it official.
That situation is supposed to be rare, however it applies to every tribe in the Land of Enchantment. The Pojoaque strenuously opposed the compact that the state insisted on using for all the tribes because it required them to share a larger share of the profits than they liked, and didn’t offer them much in return. The state collects between 9 and 10.75 percent of Class III revenues, compared to 8 percent in the previous compact.
The tribe fought the compact until last year when it sued the state, claiming the state was unfairly punishing vendors who did business with the tribe. It lost that lawsuit.
The BIA agreed and declined to approve of the compact, however many other tribes agreed to sign it, and so the “deemed approved” sobriquet can be applied.
