New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.