New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important 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 over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.