New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.