New Mexico has a bitter gaming 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 American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor 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 wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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