11
March
Written by Kaylen.
Posted in: Casino
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold 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 passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
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