New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress 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 announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.