New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked 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 appointed a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing 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 house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
March 24th, 2025
Izayah
Leave a reply