New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused 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 Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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