New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.