Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby 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, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.