New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
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