New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
