04.05
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus 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, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.