http:\/\/www.abqjournal.com\/main\/2013\/03\/ … limbo.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t Print Email Comments Share Tweet + 1<\/p>\n
\tNavajo gambling pact may be in limbo<\/p>\n
\n\tBy Deborah Baker \/ Journal Staff Writeron Fri, Mar 15, 2013<\/p>\n
\t .<\/p>\n
\tSANTA FE \u2013 A new gambling compact between the state and the Navajo Nation was lobbed late into the New Mexico legislative session, and it\u2019s unclear whether the House and Senate are going to touch it. <\/p>\n
\n\tGov. Susana Martinez and the Navajos recently negotiated a new gambling pact that would remain in effect until 2037, allow the tribe to have five casinos and boost the share of revenue the tribe pays the state. <\/p>\n
\n\tIt was sent to lawmakers by the Governor\u2019s Office for their approval with just over a week left in the 60-day session, and a special Legislative Committee on Compacts met quickly and voted to refer it to the full Legislature. <\/p>\n
\n\tBut there has been significant backlash \u2013 from legislators who complain it\u2019s happening too fast and from other tribes and pueblos that don\u2019t like the agreement and fear it could affect their own compact negotiations. <\/p>\n
\n\tSen. George Mu\u00f1oz, D-Gallup, chairman of the compact committee, said Thursday that he wasn\u2019t sure whether he would introduce the compact to the full Legislature before the 60-day session ends at noon Saturday because the controversy surrounding it might mean long debates that would derail action on other bills. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to shut everything down to do that,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said. <\/p>\n
\n\tSenate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, said he was \u201cvery leery of what\u2019s going on\u201d with the compact. <\/p>\n
\n\tHe contended that lawmakers who attended the quickly organized committee meeting Tuesday didn\u2019t realize they would be voting on the compact and hadn\u2019t had an opportunity to scrutinize it. <\/p>\n
\n\tUnder state law, the committee has to meet and make a recommendation within 45 days, which it did, voting 11-4 to endorse the compact. The committee is then supposed to introduce a joint resolution \u201cwithout delay.\u201d There is no time limit in state law for the full Legislature to vote on a compact. <\/p>\n
\n\tBy law, the House and Senate can vote a compact up or down but not change it. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI need time. I want time. I want to hear from my constituents, as well \u2026 how it impacts them,\u201d said Rep. James Roger Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo, whose district includes casinos operated by Sandia, Santa Ana and San Felipe pueblos and the Jicarilla Apaches. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re caught in the middle,\u201d said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Lorenzo Bates, who was at the state Capitol monitoring developments. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe Navajo Nation, whose current compact expires in 2015, says it wants to get a longer-term agreement in place to allow for planning and to ensure the tribe\u2019s investment in its current casinos \u2013 it has two covered by the existing compact \u2013 isn\u2019t compromised. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re asking to be heard, a simple up or down vote,\u201d Bates said. <\/p>\n
\n\tBates also said the Navajo Nation\u2019s proposed compact was its own and wouldn\u2019t affect other tribes. <\/p>\n
\n\tIf those tribes \u201care able to get something better than we can, more power to them,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\n\tMartinez\u2019s office said in a statement that it was \u201cwell aware of the importance of this issue to the Navajo Nation.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNow that a joint, bipartisan legislative committee has approved the Navajo compact, we know that the Nation is looking forward to the opportunity for a vote on the compact it worked so hard to negotiate,\u201d said the governor\u2019s spokesman, Enrique Knell. <\/p>\n
\n\tOne of the big objections of other tribes is the agreement in the proposed compact regarding \u201cfree play,\u201d which is an ongoing matter of dispute between other gambling tribes and the state Gaming Control Board. At issue is whether the jackpots won by customers who play for free should be counted as revenue that must be shared with the state \u2013 in effect, the taxable base \u2013 or whether, as tribes contend, it can be deducted from that base. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe Gaming Control Board estimates the \u201cfree play\u201d deductions have cost the state between $20 million and $40 million over the past five years. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe proposed compact with the Navajo Nation says the tribe can deduct 65 percent of its \u201cfree play\u201d jackpots. <\/p>\n
\n\tMunoz sent a letter Thursday to state Attorney General Gary King asking him to weigh in on whether the Gaming Control Board\u2019s position on \u201cfree play\u201d amounts to a tax on tribes contrary to federal law.<\/p>\n
\tNavajo gambling pact may be in limboOther tribes fear deal could sway their negotiations with state<\/p>\n
\tLEGISLATURE 2013
\n\t \u2014 This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal<\/p>\n
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