New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. 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 craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.