New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.