New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled 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 fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.