New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two big 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 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues 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 categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.