New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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