New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.