New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.