New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 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 announced a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.