New Mexico Bingo
Saturday, 19. September 2015
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Ismael