New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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