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New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local bands 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 office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers 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 steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.