Heinrich joins New Mexico tribes in seeking to block prediction markets from tribal gaming disruption

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D‑NM), alongside 11 other Democratic senators, is pressing for amendments to two digital asset bills currently under Senate consideration, warning that the legislation as written could allow online platforms to offer sports betting and casino‑style gambling outside established state and tribal regulatory frameworks. The push backs local Indigenous tribes and pueblos in New Mexico that characterize prediction markets as a serious risk to their gaming rights and the revenue those rights generate.

The bills at issue—the CLARITY Act and the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act—are being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, chaired by Senator Tim Scott (R‑SC), and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, chaired by Senator John Boozman (R‑AR). Heinrich and his colleagues contend that the current language would eliminate accountability for platforms enabling wagers on sports and events, effectively bypassing tribal‑state gaming compacts and undermining states’ ability to regulate gambling. In New Mexico, sports betting is legal only when conducted in person at tribal casinos.

The senators argue that the “rapid expansion” of such platforms “poses an existential threat to tribal sovereignty by undermining the revenue that tribes rely on for government services,” according to a letter sent Friday to Scott and Boozman. Sixteen New Mexico tribes and pueblos backed the letter, as did the Indian Gaming Association and the National Congress of American Indians. Tribal gaming proceeds fund education, public safety, healthcare, and housing in many communities.

Without the requested changes, the lawmakers cautioned, unregulated online gambling could erode federal treaty obligations to tribes and impair tribal self‑determination—described in the letter as a “primary pillar of tribal sovereignty.” Separately, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and a coalition of tribes are pursuing lawsuits against the prediction‑market platform Kalshi, alleging it circumvents state and tribal gaming laws. Those cases remain pending in state and federal courts.