New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled 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 revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
