New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands 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 Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.