New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might 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 appointed a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
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