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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 prominent 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 over in 1995, it seemed that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.

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