New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
