New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.