New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.