Reforming the State Investment Council

If you haven’t already seen today’s Albuquerque Journal, check out my column on the State Investment Council. While we have certainly critiqued the SIC’s investment practices in the past, this column focuses on reforms moving forward and how New Mexicans would best benefit from these massive pools of money.
Reform ideas range from simply removing the SIC from the control of one politician (The Governor) to the more radical option of returning significant portions of the money to the citizens of New Mexico as is done in Alaska. Regardless of what is done, something needs to be done. Because this money seems to come from nowhere — it comes mostly from oil and gas — the average citizen and even politician seems to treat it as being “easy come, easy go.” That attitude needs to change and some systematic changes will stop the waste and abuse that has taken place recently.