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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands 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 seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby 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 Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.