New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state 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 process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.