Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling 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 tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had outstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.