New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

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

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.