[ English ]

New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.