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New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.