New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. 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 panel arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues 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 accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.