New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.