New Mexico has a stormy 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 Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in 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 hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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