New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.