New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
