New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. 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 Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
