New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.