Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.