New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 big 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 American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson 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 took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
This entry was posted on January 16, 2019, 8:25 am and is filed under Casino. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.