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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

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

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.