New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying 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 compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.