New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues 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 accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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