Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by the House 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 appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian 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 tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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