New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
No comments yet.