New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.