New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing 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 process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.