New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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