New Mexico Bingo
Saturday, 26. October 2024
New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Ricky