New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.