Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

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

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.