New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues 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 accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
