New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.