New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, 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 a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many 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 gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
