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New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

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

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.