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New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
