Bingo in New Mexico
Saturday, 10. March 2018
New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
Posted in Bingo by Taryn