New Mexico Bingo
Wednesday, 26. December 2018
New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes 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 appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Cesar