New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. 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 case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.