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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.

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