New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.