SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Pojoaque Pueblo has accused the New Mexico Gaming Control Board of interfering with its casino operations since the tribe’s gambling compact with the state expired last month.
Pojoaque has filed a lawsuit in federal court, asking that state gambling regulators be prohibited from taking any action against licensed vendors who do business with the tribe.
The tribe is also seeking millions of dollars in what it says could be lost revenue if the regulators fail to renew licenses for those vendors, The Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper reported Wednesday (https://bit.ly/1gOC67w ).
Gov. Susana Martinez’s office, however, disputes the claims. “The Gaming Control Board will not be intimidated into relinquishing its regulatory responsibilities by baseless and harassing litigation,” it said in a statement.
The lawsuit is the latest in a legal battle between the Martinez administration and the tribe, which let its gambling compact with the state lapse at the end of June.
Other tribes signed on to new agreements, but Pojoaque Gov. Joseph Talachy argued that the agreement would amount to an illegal tax.
The Gaming Control Board at a meeting last week voted to defer action on some gambling companies’ license renewals because they weren’t certain if those manufacturers planned to continue doing business with Pojoaque.
Pojoaque is accusing the board of denying licenses to vendors, preventing them from providing services to the tribe’s two casinos.
Pojoaque walked away from compact talks in 2013, saying the state wasn’t negotiating in good faith. The tribe had sought a compact under which the gambling age would be lowered from 21 to 18, alcohol would be allowed on the casino floor and revenue sharing with the state would end.
Negotiators for the Martinez administration have argued those provisions would fly in the face of attempts to create a more socially responsible system and one that would provide stability for New Mexico’s gambling market in the future.
Under federal law, tribes must have compacts with the state if they want to operate casinos.
U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez, no relation to the governor, said he would allow Pojoaque to continue operating its casinos pending the outcome of a case before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
In exchange, the tribe had promised to abide by the provisions of the expired compact and set aside revenues that would have otherwise been paid to the state.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, https://www.sfnewmexican.com
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