New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would 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 announced a task force in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.