New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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