New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.
