New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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