New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would 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 assembled a panel in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.
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