New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent 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 now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
August 15th, 2020
Francesca
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