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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. 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 Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling 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 government 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.