New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed 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 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering 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 tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.