Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor 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 betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract 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, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.