New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.