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Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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