New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor 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 American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.