New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor 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 took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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