New Mexico Bingo
New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.