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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.