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New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at 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 over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.