New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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