New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in 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 hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business 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 exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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