New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. 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 get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two big 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 appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.