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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson 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 overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby 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 accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.