Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.