Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined 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 Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.