New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups 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 accord, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
June 8th, 2023
Alvin
Leave a reply