Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.