Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two big 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 appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling 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 accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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