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New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus 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 process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990's. That's most likely hopeful thinking.