New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes 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 over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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