New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House 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 panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.