New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big 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 a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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