New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined 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 betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
