New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, 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 situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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