Bingo in New Mexico
Saturday, 5. June 2021
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Zain