Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore 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 compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.