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New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an accord with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990's. That's probably wishful thinking.