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New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.

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