Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups 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, therefore 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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