New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In 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 one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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