New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.