»
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
«
Bingo in New Mexico
August 3rd, 2017 by Kirsten
[ English ]

New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped 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, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.


Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

»  Substance: WordPress   »  Style: Ahren Ahimsa