New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big 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 office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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