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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord 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 many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.