26
May
Written by Gordon.
Posted in: Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering 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 accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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