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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, 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 situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many 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 between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.