Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.