Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 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 wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, 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. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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