08.18
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.