New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby 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 contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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