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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In 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. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.