New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying 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 house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State 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 business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.