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New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.