New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie 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 revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.
