New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
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