New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
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