04
September
Written by Keegan.
Posted in: Casino
[
English ]
New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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