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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering 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, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.