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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.