Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the IGRA 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 guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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