30 years on food stamps? Reform needed in DC, Santa Fe

11.03.2025

Many things are true about the SNAP (food stamp program).

For some it is a lifeline that is being interrupted by the federal government shutdown. For others, seemingly like the woman portrayed in this recent KOAT 7 video, it is a way of life. As we have noted, New Mexico has by far the highest percentage of its population on SNAP. For too many New Mexicans welfare is indeed a way of life.

Ideally the SNAP program SHOULD be the purview of states, not the federal government. There is simply no constitutional role for the federal government to play. Accountability, budgetary reality, and a lack of experimentation and policy differences make the SNAP program open to waste and abuse.

At the state level New Mexico the State is not poor. While the Governor claims to have done amazing things to reduce poverty, the fact is that New Mexicans remain poor. MLG should be working with the Legislature to diversify New Mexico’s economy and improve its education system to raise its abysmal workforce participation rate and get people off of welfare programs.

You can see the short interview below: