New Mexico has a rocky gaming 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 get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.