06.15
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important 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 Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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