New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA 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 assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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