New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.