New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
