POJOAQUE’S GAMBLING COMPACT PROPOSAL ACCEPTED BY BIA
The day I left on our vacation the Albuquerque Journal published an op-ed I wrote on the outrageous gambling compact proposal that Pojoaque got accepted by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In the Journal article I wrote in part:
Pojoaque Pueblo, whose gambling compact expires in June of 2015, has had its proposed tribal gambling compact accepted by the Department of Interior.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the proposed compact will be the final one. The state now has 60 days to submit an alternative compact. A mediator would then select one of them, with the Interior Department having the final word. Whatever the decision of Interior, it is almost certain to be taken to the Supreme Court for final determination.
The main issue in contention is the revenue-sharing. Other major issues are allowing 18-year-olds to gamble on the slots, serving alcohol on the gambling floor amidst the slots, being able to cash welfare checks, public assistance checks and payroll checks, and the total lack of state or federal regulation.
Pojoaque’s proposed compact would require them to pay NO revenue-sharing to the state. It is likely that the state will submit an alternative compact that is pretty much identical to the ones that were signed by most of the other tribes in 2007, which would require that they would start at the 8 percent revenue-sharing that they currently pay and could possibly end up paying as much as 10.5 percent.
For those who don’t remember, Pojoaque lobbied as hard as any of the tribes for the original compacts in 1997, with a revenue-sharing amount of 16 percent, and cheered wildly when the compacts were passed by the state legislature, signed by Governor Johnson, then ratified by the Department of the Interior.
Once the compacts were passed, however, Pojoaque screamed about the unfair revenue-sharing and refused to pay it. They set up roadblocks for a short time and were threatened with closure by the U.S. Attorney to New Mexico, John Kelly. They eventually signed the compacts of 2001, agreeing to pay 8 percent revenue-sharing to the state.
Pojoaque is saying that they shouldn’t have to pay ANY revenue-sharing to the state because they no longer have “exclusivity.” Actually, “exclusivity” is not a legal element in gambling compacts in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
Revenue-sharing also is not approved in IGRA, as well, but who’s paying attention to federal law when it comes to tribal gambling? As long as the states get their revenue-sharing and the tribes have a near monopoly on casino gambling, they ignore the federal law.
To read my full comments, click on the link here.
