New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
This entry was posted on February 4, 2016, 9:21 pm and is filed under Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.