Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. 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 assembled a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed 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 biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.