New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.