08.03
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.