New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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