New Mexico has a complex 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 Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the state 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 process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.