New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.