New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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