New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.