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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

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

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.