BIA DOESN’T LIKE PARAGRAPH IN TRIBES’ NEW COMPACTS
Paula Hart, director of the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Indian Gaming, announced that a paragraph in the proposed tribal gambling compacts violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), and has been specifically entered into the compacts to prevent the Ft. Sill Apache tribe from qualifying for a casino in southern New Mexico.
The paragraph reads “Subject to all the terms and conditions of this compact, any tribe that has lands in the state that were held in trust status prior to 1988 may conduct any and all forms of Class III gaming on any Indian lands eligible for gaming under the [Indian Gaming Regulatory Act].” This paragraph allows all the tribes currently applying for compacts to qualify, but since the Ft. Sill Apache tribe didn’t acquire trust status until 2002, they would be ineligible under this compact language. This paragraph was most likely inserted to protect the current gambling tribes from being subject to more competition.
Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, brought this issue to the attention of Ms. Hart at the Department of the Interior, which resulted in a letter to Soules with her opinion. He warned that the paragraph in question could be enough to get the tribal compacts currently being negotiated thrown out by Interior. He recommended that the paragraph simply be thrown out. It is apparent from his comments that State Senator Soules is acting at the behest of the Ft. Sill Apache tribe.
An article on this story in the Santa Fe New Mexican can be read by clicking here.
It is pretty clear to everyone that the paragraph was inserted to prevent the Ft. Sill Apache tribe from getting a casino in southern New Mexico. It is questionable whether or not the BIA will approve the new compacts with that provision. It could make for a lot of drama as the expiration date on the existing compacts is June 30. If they do not have new compacts approved by the state and the BIA by that date they would be in violation of state and federal law, and could potentially be closed down.
It will be fun to watch the machinations of the state and federal government to try to solve this problem. SPGNM votes for closure
