Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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