New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local bands 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 appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.