New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused 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 appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.