New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. 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 Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.