New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico 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 State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.