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New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 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 seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.