New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.