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New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990's. That is probably hopeful thinking.