New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state 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 house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.