New Mexico Bingo
Monday, 25. April 2016
New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Alivia