New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big 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 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
