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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

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

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.