New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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