Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.