11.25
New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.