New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
