New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
April 20th, 2018
Abigail
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