New Mexico has a complex gambling 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 American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two important 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 Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many 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 amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.