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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did back in the 90's. That is most likely wishful thinking.