New Mexico Bingo


New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.

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