New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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