New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important 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 appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.