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New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Native 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 would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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 accord with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.