New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
