New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.