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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local bands 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 Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.