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New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.