New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed 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 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
November 19th, 2022
Ryan
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