New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.
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