Bingo in New Mexico

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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent 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 Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business 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 revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.