Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress 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 Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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