New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.