New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus 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 house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.