New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
