Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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