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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.