Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed 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 lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.