New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked 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 announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government 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 government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.