New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.