New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two prominent 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 over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying 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 contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
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