New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.