New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.