New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.