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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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