New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.