09.29
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico 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 compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.