New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA 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 American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico 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 accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.