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New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.