New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.