New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.