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New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.

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