New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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