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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important 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 Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.

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