New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying 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, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.