New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might 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 working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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