New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands 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 Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.