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New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.