New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many 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 American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.