New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government 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 house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for 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. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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