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New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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