New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.