New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor 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 appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.