New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled 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 revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.