New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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