Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two big 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 over in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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