05.03
Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.