Compacts

Libertarian candidate takes credit for New Mexico tribal casinos

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Gary Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, is running for president on the Libertarian Party ticket. Photo from Gary Johnson Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, is taking credit for the success of New Mexico's tribal gaming industry.

As the Republican governor of the state, Johnson entered into the first Class III gaming compacts in 1995 after his Democratic predecessor refused to sign them. He did so again in 1997 and 2001 after court decisions threw a wrench in the process

"I think that New Mexico casinos are head and shoulders above others in Indian gaming, and I think I’m directly responsible for that," Johnson told NMPolitics.net. Rather than dictate how casinos should be run, he said the compacts put tribe in control.

Tribes, however, did not see the situation in the same light. They felt they were forced to sign the 1997 agreements under duress amid legal and political uncertainty.

As a result, all of the tribes stopped sharing 16 percent of their revenues with the state. While facing a lawsuit in 2001, when Johnson was still in office, all but two agreed to make back payments after a new compact was negotiated that capped the rate at 8 percent.

As for Johnson's contention that the compacts put tribe in control, that's not reflected in the record either. He told NMPolitics that his focus during negotiations was to "dot the I’s and cross the t’s" and let the free market determine the rest.

But his compacts do in fact dictate how the casinos are run and some of those conditions have been altered in new agreements that were negotiated by Gov. Susana Martinez, another Republican. In exchange for easing some restrictions, she demanded more revenues -- the rate now goes as high as 10.5 percent.

Almost every tribe has signed a new deal and the Bureau of Indian Affairs has let them take effect even though it had questions about the higher revenue sharing rate. New Mexico is now home to 15 tribes with "deemed approved" compacts, the largest number of any state and the largest proportion of any state.

Read More on the Story:
Johnson: Kick special interests out of government by voting for me (NMPolitics.net 10/17)

Relevant Documents:
BIA Deemed Approved Letter (June 9, 2015)