New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators 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 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.