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New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement 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 office in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.