• New Mexico Bingo

    New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

    The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

    When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

    It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

    The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

    Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.

     September 24th, 2022  Elliana   No comments

     Leave a reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.