New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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