New Mexico Bingo
Posted in Casino on 09/07/2023 05:25 am by Jamiya
New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.