New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent 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 seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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