New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.