New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
