New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly 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 kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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