New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an agreement 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 over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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