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MARCH 7, 2001

The New Mexico Legislature's Committee on Compacts on Tuesday voted 11-4 to approve a new compact with the state's gaming tribes.

The compact will now be voted on by the full Senate. The compact was negotiated in response to a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Patricia Madrid against 12 tribes after they all stopped making payments to the state.

The tribes have agreed to make back payments as required by their 1997 compacts although there is a dispute about where the money will go. Pojoaque Pueblo and the Mescalero Apache Nation want half of the money to go to Indian education.

The new compact caps the revenue sharing rate at 8 percent. The 1997 rate was 16 percent.

Get the Story:
Casino Deal Heads to Senate (The Albquerque Journal 3/7)