New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might 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 working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson 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 CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
