New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured 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 Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
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