New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
