New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the state 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 ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
