New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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