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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes 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 appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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