New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might 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 announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state 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 compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
