New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would 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 Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed 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 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
