New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico 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 accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.