New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.