New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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