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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would 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 appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes 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 over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico 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 contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.