New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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