New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took 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 Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
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