New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA 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 appointed a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.