New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state 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 government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.