New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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