01.05
Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big 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 over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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