New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.