New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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