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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.

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