Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 01/26/2023 10:25 pm by Esperanza
New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 big 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 over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.