[ English ]

New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. 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 accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.