New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.