16 Oct 22

New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus 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, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.


Filed under: Casino - Trackback Uri



Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.