New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, 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, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required 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 bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry 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 surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.