Bingo in New Mexico
Saturday, 22. December 2018
New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, 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 compact, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Jaime