New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Native 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 held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had outstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby 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, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.