New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.