New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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