New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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