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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the state of New Mexico 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 process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.