New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 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 over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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