Is 8.9 percent Unemployment High Enough for Mimi Stewart?

I just love Rep. Mimi Stewart’s transparently-ignorant political stances. Her latest is a defense of the WARN Act, HB 180, which, in summary, would make it much more difficult for employers to let go of employees.

Of course, if all you look at is the visible consequence of a new policy, that being giving workers more time to prepare for unemployment or their transition to another job, then Stewart’s idea is hard to argue with. But, of course, policies have both obvious and not-so-obvious results. If you are an employer, say Gardunos, and you know that you are struggling to make it, you will be more likely to either not hire or start to fire workers, even if this is not the best thing for the company.

So, Stewart, in her infinite wisdom, would seemingly rather push Gardunos and others towards bankruptcy — including by not hiring needed workers — rather than allowing Gardunos and other companies that might be struggling to do their level best to keep going even in tough times. I’m sure Stewart and other backers of ill-advised rules and regulations would rather see unemployment north of 10% in New Mexico.