New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.