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New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

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

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, 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 the accord, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did in the 90's. That's probably hopeful thinking.