New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues 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 Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.