28
November
Written by Erin.
Posted in: Casino
[
English ]
New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would 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 announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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