Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.