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New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the 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, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.

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