New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, 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 situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
