New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.