New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.