New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers 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 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.