New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed 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 panel came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state 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 government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.