New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups 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, thus 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, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.