Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a rocky gaming 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 American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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