The New Mexico legislator will hold a 30-day session starting January 21, but in the meantime the Legislative Committee on Compacts is reviewing a proposed compact that would allow the Navajo Nation to operate five casinos, including two new properties, two state-regulated casinos currently operated by the tribe and another with low stakes no requiring state regulation.
The proposed compact, which has been agreed to by tribal officials and Governor Susana Martinez, also would permit the state to collect more casino tax revenue. The current compact is set to expire in 2015 and the new one would run through 2037.
Some state lawmakers want the new compact to resolve the issue of free play, or free spins. The Gaming Control Board said the state has lost multi-millions of dollars in state taxes because tribes do not count free-play wins as part of a player’s total winnings.
The new compact also concerns other New Mexico tribes who worry that new Navajo casinos would compete with theirs. For example, the Navajos could reconsider an old plan to build a casino on Interstate 40, just west of Albuquerque, that would directly compete with several smaller casinos in the area.
Tribes that operate casinos must report revenue to the Gaming Control Board, but those numbers are not released to the public. In 2012, taxes on gaming revenue and winnings generated $68 million for the state.
Also in New Mexico, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque claims former New Mexico Racing Commissioner Mary Cope blocked the renewal of La Mesa Racetrack and Casino’s gaming license so it could not build a $50 million casino and racetrack, originally set to open in May 2010.
The suit said Cope, a friend of a rival casino operator, “intentionally, willfully and purposefully took action to hinder La Mesa’s progress and to sabotage La Mesa’s racino project,” the lawsuit said, adding she tabled La Mesa’s requests to amend race dates, and ended up “running out the clock” on the license. The board at the time said developers failed to open the casino by the target date and could not prove they had sufficient funding in place, so their license was revoked in 2010. The New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the decision.
New Mexico Racing Commission Chairman Rob Doughty said the commission couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, however, he noted, “This is a different racing commission under a different administration from the one that the lawsuit makes allegations against.”
