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New Mexico has a stormy 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 Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby 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, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.