New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.