New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have legalized sports betting. Martinez made the decision with the help of the state’s three Native American tribes. In a news release, the governor’s office stated that it had “received a letter from the leaders of the nation’s three Native American Indian tribes expressing opposition to SB 384,” which would have legalized sports betting in New Mexico. The release added that the letter had been delivered to the governor’s office on Wednesday, and the New Mexico lawmaker had signed the veto after considering it for “over seven hours.” The sports gambling bill, which was proposed in January 2018, was sponsored by Sen. Lisa Torraco (D-Los Alamos), but it never received a vote by the state Senate. The bill would have legalized sports betting and online poker in New Mexico. “I am vetoing this bill because I believe that it would diminish New Mexicans’ confidence in our institutions and threaten the integrity of our free democratic process. If New Mexico were to adopt an expanded gaming industry, particularly one based on betting on sporting events, the integrity of the sport would not be assured,” Martinez said in a statement. The governor added that her decision came as a result of the lawmaker’s bill that was never heard in the legislature. She added that the bill did not have the proper input from the state’s three tribes — Acoma, Laguna and Zia — which are located in the state. She said that they must all be involved in “the process and ultimate implementation” of new gambling regulations. “This is particularly critical because of the historic connections of Indian people to the land, its natural resources and natural heritage,” she said. A recent poll from Research & Polling found that most New Mexicans in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, and Deming support legal sports betting in the state. However, in some of the other areas, support was not as high. Support for the bill in southern New Mexico fell from 57 percent to 55 percent, and it was also at 48 percent in the southeastern region of the state. It received 47 percent support in northern New Mexico, and support was at 45 percent in the region where Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Taos all come together. The study also revealed that 82 percent of the participants voted against the bill. But despite the lack of support from two-thirds of the New Mexican respondents, the report showed that 61 percent believed that New Mexico residents should be allowed to bet on sporting events while they are happening. Under the proposal, residents could bet on sporting events in the state, with an exception of New Mexico’s teams and colleges. The study also determined that 57 percent of the respondents were against a separate bill on online poker, while only 37 percent supported the sports gambling proposal. New Mexico became the first state to pass a bill legalizing sports betting on Feb. 4, 2017. Nevada had legalized sports gambling in 2011. The state approved legislation in 2017 that would have allowed the state to provide online poker for real money. The state moved ahead with the online poker legislation after a federal court struck down a law banning the practice. Pai’s proposal also required that the state of New Mexico make sure that state laws regarding sports gambling were in accordance with the federal Wire Act, which prevented gambling on sporting events, as well as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. Pai wants to see state laws that have been in place since 2015 on poker and sports betting enforced. “As a federal regulator, my role is to enforce the law, no matter what I think about the law,” Pai said on Wednesday. “Our office’s enforcement priorities are clear: We will go after bad actors, whether they are foreign-based or domestically based.” The sports gambling proposals in New Mexico and Las Vegas were introduced within months of each other, but not on the same day. It is uncertain whether New Mexico will see any movement on the matter in 2019. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller is one of the opponents to the proposals in New Mexico and Las Vegas. He said on Thursday that he was glad to see that the proposals had been vetoed. "I'm very pleased to see the governor's veto of this disastrous bill. While I and other opponents argued that New Mexico's long-held cultural tradition of not allowing sports gambling was best for the state, this is an issue that needs to be resolved in Nevada," he said in a statement. "I trust our state lawmakers will address this issue after the upcoming legislative session." While the state legislature will be in session next year, a sports betting plan is likely to stay off the table in the upcoming legislative session. New Mexico was scheduled to join Nevada as the first state with regulated sports gambling until Trump signed an executive order in October that blocked such gambling in all but four states: Delaware, Montana, New Jersey and Nevada. The move sparked a push from lawmakers from those four states to create bills to legalize sports gambling on the state level in their states. Delaware has been the only state so far to legalize sports gambling since the executive order was signed. Sports wagering has generated around $150 billion in annual revenue in Las Vegas. Sports gambling in the U.S. is expected to be worth $7.5 billion by the end of the year, according to Pai’s estimate. “We remain confident that the federal courts will uphold the existing framework for sports wagering,” the Republican commissioner said. “At the end of the day, states are still free to authorize and regulate sports gambling in a way that best suits their residents and their own sports betting marketplace.” ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.