New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing 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 government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. 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 revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.