[ English ]

New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed 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 would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.