New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.