02.02
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.