New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
September 8th, 2020
Liam
Leave a reply