New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups 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 accord, thereby 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 accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
You must be logged in to post a comment.