New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important 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 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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