New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.