New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the 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 Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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