Casino

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.