New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
February 24th, 2024
Callie
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