Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 12/29/2015 02:21 am by Anthony
New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the 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 many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.