New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked 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 appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned 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 non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.