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New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.