New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.