New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
