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 Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.