Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA 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 assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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