Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.