Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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