Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the 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, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. 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. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.