New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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