Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.