New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.