New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.