New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important 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 office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby 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 government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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