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New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.