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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.