Bingo in New Mexico
Tuesday, 2. February 2010
New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined 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 wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in 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 largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Jaime