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New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.