Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.