New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.