New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

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

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found 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 revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.