New Mexico Bingo
Sunday, 10. May 2020
New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus 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, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Hudson