New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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