New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.