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New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.