Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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