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New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. 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 cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.