New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused 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 American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.
