New Mexico Bingo
Saturday, 5. September 2015
New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
Posted in Bingo by Taryn