New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an accord with two 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 over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled 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 revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
