New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.