11
June
Written by Lilia.
Posted in: Casino
[
English ]
New Mexico has a complex gaming background. 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 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 discuss a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state 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 government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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