New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused 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 Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.