New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.