New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
