Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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