New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands 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 seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.