New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, 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 case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying 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 house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.