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New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, 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 government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.

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