The Pueblo of Pojoaque, whose compact negotiations with Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico have broken down, has submitted a proposed compact directly to the federal government, as it is allowed to do when two sides in such negotiations reach an impasse.
The northern New Mexico tribe operates two casinos, Buffalo thunder and Cities of Gold, with a combined 1,500 employees. Its current compact with the state expires next year.
The proposed compact includes lowering the gambling age from 21 to 18, allowing the casino to operate 24/7, allowing alcohol to be served at gaming positions, giving the casino the ability to cash Social Security Checks and to accept gambling markers from players. Disputes between players and casinos would be decided in tribal court. The last proposal was the one most likely to elicit a harsh response: the tribe cease revenue sharing payments to New Mexico.
The tribe’s proposals have evinced much hilarity from sources that consider them as a joke, such as the Santa Fe New Mexican, which wryly wrote, “We wonder, is the logical next step that pueblo security could break people’s legs for nonpayment?”
The governor’s spokesman Enrique Knell declared that the compact would give the Pojoaque, “unfair competitive advantages that would be devastating to neighboring Pueblos.”
Recently the pueblo’s governor, George Rivera told the Albuquerque Journal, “We have built a facility that is a huge investment, and the pueblo is not willing to give away its hard-earned money while the whole reason for gaming was to take care of our communities.”
The tribe argues that the state is not negotiating in good faith. That is why it resorted to an option allowed under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, submitting the compact directly to the Department of the Interior.
The department has requested comments from Martinez and Attorney General Gary King. The governor is apparently contemplating a lawsuit to prevent the department from approving the compact. Some case law supports the state’s stance, including an appeals court ruling in 2007 that prevented the department from imposing a gaming compact on Texas.
The state has 14 gaming tribes that operate casinos and five racing tracks that have slot machines. Each tribe has a compact with the state. Tribes pay a share of slot machine profits. The state collected $69 million from all of its tribes, and about $5 million from the Pojoaque.
