New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. 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 get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.