New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
