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New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

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