New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
May 30th, 2017
Callie
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