New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government 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 government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.