New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two important local bands 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 seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.