New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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