New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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