Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 10/14/2021 07:25 pm by Jaylon
New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two 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 office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups 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, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.