New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might 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 appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
February 4th, 2020
Tatum
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