Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
No comments yet.