New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.