New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico 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 amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.