New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
