New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.