New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.