New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with two important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.

