New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused 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 gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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