[ English ]

New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent 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 wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.