New Mexico has a rocky 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 Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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