Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, 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 case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.