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New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

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

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.