New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
