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New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn't be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990's. That's most likely hopeful thinking.