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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement 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 Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.