New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.