Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.