New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore 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 contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.