New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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