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New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.