New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus 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, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
