New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.