Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.