New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.