New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.