New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King 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 American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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