New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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