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New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

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

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 Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the 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, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.