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New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn't be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with two important 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 seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990's. That's without doubt wishful thinking.