New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian 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 a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.