New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a key matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.

