New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.