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New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government 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 government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.