New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed 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 bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed 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. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.