New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.