New Mexico has a complex gaming background. 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 Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an accord with 2 big local tribes 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 Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.