New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.