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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed 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 guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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