New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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