New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.