New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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