New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit 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.
