New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.