New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.