New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state 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 accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.