New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might 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 panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
September 18th, 2019
Mohammed
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