Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.