New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local bands 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 seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.