New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state 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 accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.