New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.