New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.