New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.