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New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two prominent 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 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.