Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.