New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.