New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused 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 Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.