New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
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