New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled 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 CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.