A federal judge in New Mexico has cleared the state to take action against the Pojoaque Pueblo’s casinos by targeting vendors doing business with them.
The casinos, the Buffalo Thunder and the Cities of Gold, have been operating without a compact with the state after a previous agreement expired and negotiators for the state and the Pojoaque failed to reach a new deal.
State-tribal compacts are required under federal law to spell out the terms governing how Las Vegas-style tribal casinos may operate and what, if any, gaming revenue they must share with non-tribal governments.
Negotiations for a new compact reportedly broke down over the Pojoaque’s refusal to continue to share revenue with the state and because the tribe wants New Mexico’s legal gambling lowered from 21 to 18 and also wants a prohibition on serving alcohol in the two casinos removed.
The state’s position since the compact expired is that the casinos are illegal. The tribe tried to have an amended compact approved by the U.S. Department of Interior, but the state challenged the move in federal court. That’s when the tribe filed a separate request with the same court to block the state from taking actions against vendors doing business with the casinos.
In denying that request Judge James Browning said the tribe failed to demonstrate they would suffer irreparable injury if a stay was not imposed. He stated further that while federal law does allow tribes to generate revenue through gaming it also specifically requires that such operations are conducted through a compact with the state.
The pueblo’s governor, Joseph Talachy, declined to comment on the ruling, according to news reports.
In a related case U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez allowed the tribe to continue to operate without a compact as long as it pays the 8 percent it would normally pay—into an escrow fund. One reason the tribe opposes the compact that the governor negotiated with the other gaming tribes is that the percentage is higher. Pojoaque calls this an illegal tax.
