New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now 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 found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.