New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
This entry was posted on January 14, 2016, 6:21 am and is filed under Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.