New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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