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New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.