New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
