New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 big 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling 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 a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.