New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to 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 office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
This entry was posted on December 27, 2023, 8:25 pm and is filed under Casino. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.