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New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. 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 now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.

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