New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government 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 government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.