New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico 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 ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.