01.07
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
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