New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.