New Mexico Bingo
Saturday, 3. June 2017
New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord 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 the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Carla