New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might 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 panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the state 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 process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
