New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
August 14th, 2023
Francesca
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