New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.