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New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson 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 took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.