New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big 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 Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.