New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government 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 process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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