New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby 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, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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