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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two big 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.