New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
