New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.