New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.