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New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

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

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.