New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby 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 government, 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, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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