05.11
Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in 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 CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.