Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.