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New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.

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