New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state 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 government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.