New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might 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 announced a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering 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, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
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