New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
