• Home

New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying 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, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.

Log in