Federal ruling should get Pojoaque to OK a compact

Now that a federal judge has dealt Pojoaque Pueblo a major blow in its misguided efforts to keep running its casinos without a state compact, it would be wise for the pueblo to get back to the negotiating table. But given its track record with the state, it’s more likely the state Gaming Control Board — appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez — will have to take action against the slot machine vendors, banks, credit card companies, bond holders and any others doing business with the pueblo’s obstinate leadership.

And the Feb. 9 ruling by U.S. Judge James Browning appears to clear the way for the state to take such action.

The courts have made it clear that tribes cannot operate casinos unless they have a gaming compact, or agreement, with the state. Pojoaque’s compact expired on June 30, 2015, but it continues to run Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, Cities of Gold Casino, and slot machines at its hotel, sports bar and gas stations.

U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez has allowed the pueblo to continue its gambling operations until a separate lawsuit, now pending in the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is settled. In that suit, the state is challenging the pueblo’s efforts to go around the state and get a compact approved by the U.S. Department of Interior.

In the meantime, the state Gaming Control Board is considering cutting the casinos’ supply lines by going after the pueblo’s casino vendors who, in the state’s view, are doing business with a gaming tribe that is operating illegally. It’s an old, but very effective, tactic.

Browning’s ruling shot down the pueblo’s attempts to block those actions. He ruled that the pueblo failed to demonstrate it would be irreparably injured if a stay preventing state action against vendors was not imposed. He called the pueblo’s argument “speculative,” and said that irreparable injury could not rest on the mere possibility of future harm.

Browning also concluded that the state and the public interest would face greater harm if the state were unable to enforce its gambling laws.

“While (the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) enshrines a public interest in tribes’ ability to generate revenue via gaming operations, it also expressly requires that such operations be conducted in accordance with a state-tribal compact,” Browning wrote in his ruling.

In its compact negotiations with the state, some of the concessions the pueblo sought — which would give its casinos a huge advantage over competing tribes — were to stop sharing revenue with the state, lower the gambling age from 21 to 18, and allow alcohol to be served on the gaming floor. The state rightfully turned down those demands.

Under its expired compact, Pojoaque paid the state 8 percent of its “net win ” — the amount wagered on slot machines minus prize payouts and approved regulatory fees — roughly $4.5 million to $6 million annually. Those payments, a key provision in all of the state’s gambling agreements, are given in exchange for the state limiting the amount of gambling it allows. Fortunately, those payments have been held in escrow until the lawsuits are settled.

For its part, the state is doing a good job of ensuring that the state’s interests are protected and that one tribe isn’t given unfair business advantages over any other.

Both the pueblo and the state are spending huge sums on legal fees that could have been avoided had Pojoaque Pueblo’s leadership been more willing to negotiate in the same good faith its competitors have, the same good faith it claims the state failed to show.

Pueblo Gov. Joseph M. Talachy and his council now have another good reason to work with the state toward an equitable compact and should do so before the state is forced to rein in their suppliers, decimating not only the pueblo’s gaming revenues, but the businesses with whom they work.