New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked 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 assembled a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.