New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government 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 contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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