The following appeared in the Current Argus and other newspapers during August of 2026.

Even during what has been a very busy summer news cycle New Mexico’s recently created universal “free” childcare system has remained in the news. National media cheered the program’s creation and the first-in-America expansion of government, but the true story of New Mexico’s universal “free” childcare program is more troubling than the media have let on.

“Free” universal childcare is estimated to cost taxpayers $850 million annually with the price tag rising quickly over time according to the Legislative Finance Committee. The first “dirty secret” of this program is that none of it would be possible without revenues generated by New Mexico’s oil and gas boom.

Second, New Mexico’s universal “free” childcare entitlement did not follow the path outlined in your civics textbooks or Schoolhouse Rock videos. It was created not by the Legislature, but by the governor acting alone. She did this on November 1, 2025, while the Legislature didn’t act until the 2026 session.

The Gov. outlined her plans for taxpayer-funded universal daycare in New Mexico on September 8, 2025. Another “secret” is that New Mexico already had “free” childcare available for families making up to 400% of the federal policy level ($132,000 in 2026). The Gov. acted to make it “universal.

A fourth secret is the precedent set by Lujan Grisham’s actions. Due to the sketchy nature of the program’s creation, a lawsuit was filed by defeated GOP gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez and former Democrat State Senator (and attorney) Jacob Candelaria. After winning in district court, the suit was overturned on appeal. New Mexico’s top court refused to even hear the case. Candelaria immediately noted the import of the Court’s inaction saying, “Future governors could use the Supreme Court decision to exercise broad executive power without legislative approval, that’s terrifying.”

It should be terrifying. During her 2022 reelection campaign Gov. Lujan Grisham did not advocate for universal childcare. In fact, the concept was not introduced as a bill at all in sessions prior to the Gov.’s announcement that made it universal.

The fifth and final secret is that just a few months after its creation, the Gov.’s “universal” childcare was found to be running a deficit of approximately $83 million. Recently, two whistleblowers have come forward saying they were retaliated against for calling out these deficits. Carmel Pacheco-Aragon: The Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s chief financial officer filed a suit alleging she was placed on administrative leave after reporting an $83 million shortfall for fiscal year 2026 and warning about improper fund transfers without legislative approval. The Department’s former budget director Kimberly Gonzales filed a subsequent lawsuit claiming she was wrongfully terminated for publicly reporting that the department was facing a $258 million shortfall, partially due to the state’s new universal childcare program.

Clearly, Lujan Grisham did not want the public to know the program she created on her own was running massive deficits. So, she took retribution on some of the best-placed people that she’d hired to manage it and who blew the whistle. Once again, Lujan Grisham is getting her way by abusing her power (in multiple ways) and setting a precedent that allows future governors to engage in the same behaviors.

The incentive, ratified by the State’s highest Court, to abuse the law in support of an unproven and at best questionable policy is one of MANY reasons why New Mexico is ranked poorly when compared with other states. New Mexico Democrats LOVE to talk about “no kings” when the perceived “king” is in Washington, DC. They have a hypocritical tendency to not speak out when the “king” is here in Santa Fe and a member of their own party.

Paul Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation, an Albuquerque-based think tank focused on the importance of individual freedom, limited government and economic opportunity.

The Mercatus Center is a free market think tank based in the Washington, DC area. One of their major policy initiatives is housing reform. They believe that faster approvals, clearer rules, and practical state and local reforms can help get more homes built in New Mexico and we’d agree with them that increasing New Mexico’s housing supply is the best way to create more affordable housing in the State. You can check out their recommendations here.

As the report notes,

By streamlining land use entitlements and permitting processes at both the state and local levels, New Mexico policymakers can remove barriers to housing production and make meaningful progress in addressing the state’s housing shortage. Several local jurisdictions, including Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, Silver City, and Farmington, have already introduced local housing reforms. At the state level, New Mexico is the only state in the Southwest that has not adopted legislative reforms in recent years.

According to Business Insider, New Mexicans spend 20th most in the nation (as a percentage of their incomes) on housing. That’s 15th highest for renters. This is an issue for retaining our youth population and job growth/economic development. It is high time the Legislature act.

A year ago we sat down with one of the report’s authors Salim Furth for a detailed discussion of housing issues in New Mexico.

Recently, RGF was asked to weigh in on Democrats’ plans to shift their presidential primary forward from June through February. While RGF has no issue with changing primary dates, the fact is it is going to cost $15 million. We believe that cost should not be passed on to New Mexico taxpayers. Also, while left out of this story, holding separate primaries in February and June will play havoc with New Mexico’s new semi-open primary law which for the first time (this year) allowed independents to vote in either party’s primary election.

Check out the full story here or by clicking on the image below.

According to the Albuquerque Journal’s poll by Brian Sanderoff gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull is within 6 points of Haaland. What are the implications? What does Hull need to do to win?

As expected New Mexico has nearly $1 billion in unexpected money. Paul believes that figure will rise to over a billion by the time the session rolls around. Despite the oil and gas boom New Mexico’s economy isn’t particularly strong which highlights the failure of MLG and the Democrats’ policies.

New Mexico is a big spender on K-12 education with more $$ per student than the national average or any of its neighbors, by far.

The Trump Administration is suing New Mexico for providing “free” college to illegal immigrants.

New Mexico’s subsidies for (former) ObamaCare subsidy recipients is proving expensive.

The Rio Grande Foundation has never supported tariffs. We especially oppose tariffs that have been illegally imposed (or at best questionably) by the president acting on his own. Thanks to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation for their excellent Tariffs.org website which breaks down the cost of Trump’s tariffs by state.

According to NTUF, “Executive tariffs have cost New Mexico an estimated $344 million since January 2025. For comparison purposes, that’s equivalent to $402 per New Mexico household. About 90% of that fell on raw materials, parts, and equipment that New Mexico manufacturers buy, and the hardest-hit category is medical equipment & supplies at $40 million.”

The Trump Administration claims to wish to address “affordability” which remains the top concern of voters. We agree. Targeted, Congressionally-approved tariffs on nations like China are far different from tariffs on Canada which seem to have no purpose at all. It is high time for Congress to assert itself lest the next Democrat president impose their own taxes without Congressional action.

As New Mexico’s oil and gas boom continues, the State’s politicians continue to show themselves to be very adept at wasting money. The latest example involves the controversy over expiring “ObamaCare” subsidies. As a refresher, these subsidies (from the federal government) were given to people making more than 400% of the federal poverty level — equivalent to about $64,000 for an individual or $132,000 for a family of four. They were necessary because ObamaCare didn’t actually do anything to reduce health care costs. They were extended temporarily by the Biden Administration during COVID but the Trump Administration and Congress allowed them to expire.

But, New Mexico, in the throes of a massive revenue boom thanks to oil and gas, decided to pick up the tab for those subsidies and it is proving to be quite expensive. In fact, according to the LFC, total annual state spending on marketplace coverage increased by more than 600% between 2025 and 2026.

Here are a few takeaways:

1. ObamaCare is a bad law that should be repealed. Congress and the Administration should take a new look at actual health care reform that places patients in the role of fully-informed, price-sensitive consumers;
2. While New Mexico’s attempt to subsidize the costs of those making MORE THAN 400% of the federal poverty level may seem well-intentioned, these are NOT poor people. There is no reason we should be subsidizing them.
3. These subsidies are unaffordable and unsustainable even at a time of record state revenues.

While there is no incumbent in the New Mexico governor’s race this year, Democrat Deb Haaland’s massive ($14 million to $1 million) cash advantage and longer record in high profile positions SHOULD give her an advantage over Republican Gregg Hull. Of course, the fact that New Mexico is a “blue” state and the low favorability of President Donald Trump combined with Hull’s relatively low profile are the main issues facing him.  The Albuquerque Journal says Haaland has a 6-point advantage of 49-43 which definitely places Hull within striking distance.

Hull must close the fundraising gap. The people who can help with that are the oil and gas industry who SHOULD be motivated, but haven’t been so far.

National GOP groups and funders will also be critical to Hull’s success.

And, of course, there is ONE debate expected between the candidates. Hull would like more debates. Haaland is committed to one, but she hasn’t agreed to a date. Considering that the main concern many have about Haaland is simply her perceived lack of intelligence, the debate outcome will be huge.

A competitive race for Gov. SHOULD be good for Republicans in New Mexico’s legislative races which have already seen a boost from a few issues Democrats have had with their candidates. It DOES seem that voters are giving Hull a real chance in this race even as they deeply dislike Trump and his policies.

RGF hasn’t said or written much about Bernalillo County’s newly-adopted economic development rubric. The rubric measures project commitments across various metrics as laid out below:

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Bob Perls. Perls is a former Democrat state legislator and also ran  New Mexico Open Elections, and the current chair and a candidate for US Senate from the New Mexico Forward Party. Paul and Bob discuss semi-open primaries along with a wide variety of election issues facing New Mexico. Check it out!

Yesterday it was reported that New Mexico has yet another massive budget surplus on its hands thanks to revenue from the oil and gas industry. The Rio Grande Foundation has been reporting and analyzing New Mexico’s economic situation since long before the oil boom started. We asked the question then (in 2018), “would New Mexico’s politicians squander the opportunity?” The answer appears to be “yes,” but that’s not just our take. Check out this article from Source NM which we consider to be a credible, center/left online journalism organization.

While the article notes massive growth in the State’s sovereign wealth fund which now stands at $75 billion, the fact is that New Mexico’s economy outside of oil and gas and data centers is weak.

Ismael Torres, chief economist for the (LFC), told lawmakers that investment income (from oil and gas $$) is expected to become the state’s second-largest source of state general fund revenue by 2030, surpassing oil and gas revenue as well as personal and corporate income taxes combined.

But forecasters had a warning for lawmakers too. The strength of the state budget is masking weakness in the broader economy.

“We’re still seeing an economy that I would describe as either tepid or maybe stuttering,” Torres told lawmakers. “We’re struggling to find our footing.”He pointed to faltering wage growth and stubborn inflation, while describing investments as the “golden goose for the general fund.”Without them, he said, state revenues driven by the economy are growing very little.

New Mexico’s job market is growing slowly. The state had 5,800 more jobs in June than it did a year earlier. Forecasters expect little improvement overall, projecting employment growth of 0.6% this fiscal year and just 0.2% the following year.

Wage growth is slowing also. University of New Mexico economists recently cut their forecast for wage and salary growth this fiscal year from 4.7% to 3.8%.

Ironically (or perhaps in line with New Mexico’s anti-business attitude and approach, data centers are the other area of New Mexico’s economy (besides oil and gas) that is doing well. The article goes on to note that “Construction-related gross receipts taxes jumped 18.5% in the last fiscal year, fueled in part by data-center construction in southern New Mexico.”

As reported in the Albuquerque Journal New Mexico is sitting on an unexpected $924 million in revenues thanks to elevated oil prices (due largely to the Iran War). While the Gov.’s call for small $250 rebates has been ignored by the Democrat-controlled Legislature, bigger tax reform hinges on the results of the upcoming election in November.  Deb Haaland shows no sign of returning money to taxpayers and will likely spend it or dump it into the permanent fund. Candidate Gregg Hull has said he’d like to eliminate the personal income tax. He has bipartisan support for that as Sen. Finance Committee Chair George Muñoz has also called for such a move, but AGAIN, the Democrats’ legislative leadership shows no signs of being willing to embrace broad-based tax reform efforts.

New Mexico collects $2.1 billion from the personal income tax annually. With nearly $1 billion in unexpected money available and an economy in serious need of growth and diversification even a phased in approach to income tax elimination with revenue triggers would be both desirable and possible. But, New Mexico’s “progressive” legislators have never shown an interest in broad-based economic growth or diversification. Changing that would grow the State’s economy and lift New Mexicans out out of poverty. November’s election will have a great deal to say about whether tax reform happens in New Mexico or economic stagnation continues amid an unprecedented oil and gas boom.

Paul is at the State Policy Network meeting in Orlando. What is going on there?

Virgin Galactic slashes payments to Spaceport.

NM Supreme Court puts permits on hold for Project Jupiter.

San Juan County is “open” for data centers though.

DeSantis calls for end to Congressional pensions (maybe for the Legislature as well?).

Will Buc-ees ever come to New Mexico? Not based on these comments.

New Mexico to pay for gender transition surgery with Medicaid pulling back.

The US is levying 50% tariffs on Canada and Canada will retaliate?

According to the website World Population Review, New Mexico’s education spending has accelerated dramatically in recent years and the State now spends more than the national average. When you consider New Mexico’s  income levels New Mexico’s K-12 spending ranks 6th-most in the nation.  Good, timely information can be hard to find when it comes to education spending data. The Census Bureau doesn’t include everything and takes a long time to publish its data.

World Population Review (the site is worth a look) does a good job and has more timely data. According to them, in 2025 the United States average was $17,619 per pupil. New Mexico spent $17,844, so above the national average. When New Mexico’s income levels are factored in, New Mexico moves dramatically up the list spending 4.17% of its taxpayers’ income on K-12 education.

New Mexico spends vastly more per pupil than any of its neighbors for far worse results.

New Mexico spends: $17,844

Colorado: $15,897

Utah: $11,342

Arizona: $12,003

Texas: $12,444

Oklahoma: $12,162

Can New Mexico improve its dead-last student outcomes? We believe so, but more spending hasn’t done it in the past and won’t do it in the future. The answer is in bold reforms like Mississippi’s and broader school choice.

OK, that’s not EXACTLY what he said, but he implied as much recently. “At a recent store opening he said, “Life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing.” That’s just another way of saying that businesses and money flow where it is welcomed, a concept the Rio Grande Foundation has championed in its work to make New Mexico less poverty-stricken and its people less reliant on both government handouts AND cash.

But, New Mexico’s politicians don’t see it that way. They LIKE it when voters depend on them because that means votes for them and their friends. So, Buc’ees goes to other, neighboring states where it is welcomed. And, if you’ve ever been to one of these stores (and we have), you may be aware that Buc’ees pays VERY well for people with little job experience. Check out the sign below.

Will New Mexico EVER get a Buc’ees as it has (finally) a few In & Out burger places? It makes sense. I-40 is an incredibly busy east-west thoroughfare. But, unless the people and politicians of New Mexico have a change of heart about economic growth and business, we’re resigned to traveling to Amarillo, TX or near Fort Collins, CO (to name two

With the help of our summer interns Isa Thakur (University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business) and Jamal Witter (Rhodes College), the Rio Grande Foundation held a campus event (at UNM Main) in which we shared a bit about the work of the Foundation and the work we do on behalf of New Mexicans and free markets, prosperity, educational reform, and constitutional government. While most interns are with us during the summer, we have interns throughout the year. If you know a young person who might be interested, you can find the form online here along with instructions for submitting the application.

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with economist and Texas-based free market policy consultant Vance Ginn. They discuss the importance of eliminating New Mexico’s personal income tax. They then discuss the political and policy situation in Texas. Gov. Abbott recently issued a moratorium on data centers. Will a hard-left “progressive” be able to win the Senate seat? Finally, states are considering reforming or eliminating property taxes. What is the right approach? Check out this important conversation!

Virgin Galactic hasn’t launched from the taxpayer-funded Spaceport on June 8, 2024 (more than 2 years ago). The latest statement from the company claims they’ll launch again in February 2027. Originally, the Company had claimed they’d launch by fall of 2026. The Company is also bleeding cash and its reserves are plummeting.

But, Virgin Galactic HAS managed to save money (at the expense of New Mexico taxpayers, of course) by slashing the monthly user fees it pays to the spaceport by 73.5%, from $188,888 to $50,000. That’s an annual loss of $1.6 million. Despite the reduction in revenue, Spaceport America must still maintain the same day-to-day operational support and testing services for Virgin Galactic. According to KRQE 13, the Spaceport will be coming to the Legislature in 2027 for additional funding to bridge the gap.  

While the facility cost $225 million to build it has continued to require infusions of cash almost every year. Earlier in the year, for example, the Legislature’s allocated $4 million in capital outlay funds for infrastructural improvements at the facility.

Will Virgin Galactic launch in February of next year? That’s anybody’s guess. Should New Mexicans and policymakers be more careful before allocating taxpayer dollars to big capital projects based on big promises? Of course.

Former Democrat House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton convicted on all counts. She was paid by APS while in the Legislature illegally in addition to her corruption.

There are two big problems with Democrats’ primary plans.

Paying the Legislature isn’t a bad idea, but the ballot measure on this fall’s ballots is.

Welcome to NM job creators, get lost!

Rep. Stansbury has some “interesting” takes on NM economy/policy.

Is Secretary of State Oliver actually doing her job? She makes $144,000 annually.

Albuquerque’s effort to sell or use vacant land is worthwhile.

As is so often the case in New Mexico when criminals are not held accountable for breaking the law they simply continue to break the law until or unless they are finally held accountable. But, that often means lives lost and people harmed. Sheryl Williams Stapleton is different in the sense that she was a state legislator, but her illegal behavior was made public long before her corruption scandal.

Take a few minutes to check out this story by Larry Barker of Channel 13 from back in 2011. Barker blew the whistle on Stapleton receiving a salary for her day job with Albuquerque Public Schools while also serving as a state representative in the New Mexico Legislature. At the time, Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Winston Brooks said Williams Stapleton’s actions were contrary to the school district’s policy. Yet, Stapleton remained in the Legislature through 2021 when she resigned due to the criminal investigation.

Was there ever accountability for APS? Is APS currently enforcing its policy of NOT paying legislators?

While KRQE focuses inordinate time on whether New Mexico should or should not pay legislators that is a separate question. This was corruption on the part of Stapleton and APS.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury recently gave a talk to the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. It was covered in the Albuquerque Journal. Stansbury seems to be both delusional AND clueless at the same time. For starters, check out the following quote from the article: “What happens is we tend to have an economic development opportunity that happens in New Mexico … and because we haven’t invested in the long-term pipeline from pre-K all the way through higher ed for our workforce, we have to look outside of New Mexico for those skilled workers.”

New Mexico has taxpayer-funded pre-K, childcare, has dramatically increased spending on K-12 (despite declining enrollment, and has “free” college. What more does she want?

Stansbury then calls out New Mexico’s infrastructure which is a fair point, but she then goes on to “caution against the strategy of bringing large companies to rural areas to spur economic growth, citing a lack of water and basic infrastructure. Her comments come as a data center, Project Jupiter, is being constructed in Santa Teresa, a small town in Doña Ana County.

“We are going to have to build industries that rely on water in places where water exists in the state, and we should not be building industries in places where there is not water.” Well, the fact is there IS the water. If New Mexico’s leaders were smart (Democrats all like Stansbury) we would be “investing in infrastructure” to treat that water and using it for a variety of economic development purposes.

Finally, for someone in Congress who also broadly shares the philosophy of a Governor who has been in office for 8 years, Stansbury sure seems like she has some big problems with New Mexico’s leadership. She also seems to yearn to be back in the Legislature or (more likely) run for Governor.

New Mexico Democrats have successfully pushed their national party to move the New Mexico Democratic presidential primary vote forward to February 15 from its current June slot. As has been discussed for many years, this will give the Land of Enchantment a greater say in Democratic presidential primaries. Generally speaking that is not a problem although there is no indication that the Republicans will be able to do the same. Also, the Legislature is in session in New Mexico on February 15 which means no campaigning, no fundraising, and basically no way that either party’s legislative candidates will want that kind of date shift for their races.

This means two primaries: one for Democratic Party presidential candidates in February and the rest of the candidates for both parties in June. Who pays the $15 million for the early primary? It shouldn’t be New Mexico taxpayers. 

Also, New Mexico JUST had its first ever “semi-open” primary meaning that independents could participate and essentially choose which party to vote for on primary day. In fact, New Mexico hasn’t even had a primary like this in a presidential election year. If Democrats move their primary and Republicans don’t how would that work for the primaries? Moving the primary would seemingly eliminate the opportunity for anyone but registered Democrats to vote in the presidential primaries. After all, an independent could, in theory, vote in the Democrats’ presidential primary in February and then again in June in the Republican primary for president (and other offices).

Needless to say, there are some major questions regarding shifting the primary date that haven’t been discussed. Will Democrats simply ram this through in the upcoming session or will we have an honest discussion about these serious challenges?

While Albuquerque’s population growth has largely stalled in recent years the City still faces challenges with a lack of housing and developable land as the City has become landlocked by the mountains, tribal lands, Air Force Base, and volcanoes. The idea of using or selling off these lands is worthwhile. You can check out the website here. Of course, while our strong preference is for as much land as reasonable to be sold off and used for market housing or other economic uses, that may not always be possible.

As the Albuquerque Journal reports, using its new website the City is hoping to bring more of these vacant lands into use. We applaud the City for this effort and for putting a list of properties together on a website. Hopefully it results in numerous beneficial uses, preferably by the private sector. The County should make a concerted effort to do the same and Albuquerque Public Schools which is seeing annual declines of 1,500 students should have unused properties available as well.

Returning government-owned lands to the private sector, especially those that are unused, unnecessary, or should simply be consolidated (especially since the County bought it’s own headquarters downtown) would be a win-win. Whether the challenge is the housing situation or simply bringing properties back onto the tax rolls (thus lowering taxes for the rest of us) this is a worthwhile effort with numerous benefits.

Click below to check out the City’s website. Perhaps you’ll have a use for City property!

John Lonergan is a Santa Fe-based entrepreneur and venture capitalist with a long track record of successes. He is also a job creator and investor. His current work is as Chairman of American Fertilizer.

He attempted to build a fertilizer plant in New Mexico (near Hobbs) but was thwarted at every turn by the State’s political class. Ultimately he shifted the plant to business-friendly Wyoming.

Paul and John discuss the challenge of entrepreneurship and job creation in New Mexico and why hostility toward entrepreneurs holds New Mexico back.

During the 2025 legislative session the hot topic for Rio Grande Foundation and the business community was another round of push back against an onerous paid family leave program.  We won that battle. For what it’s worth, while these battles were fought in the Legislature, it was unclear what Gov. MLG’s views were and whether she would have signed that bill. As it turned out, MLG had her own plans for a brand new taxpayer-funded entitlement program that (as the courts would eventually decide) didn’t even need legislative approval: universal “free” childcare. The program is estimated to cost $850 million annually to start.

The Gov. outlined her plans for taxpayer-funded universal daycare in New Mexico on September 8, 2025. Acting on her own, the Gov. changed New Mexico’s childcare program from covering families up to 400% of the federal policy level ($132,000 in 2026) to make it “universal.” That program took effect on November 1, 2025. The Democrat-controlled Legislature ratified the program with a few additions and changes during the 2026 session.

But, between November 1, 2025 and the end of New Mexico’s fiscal year (June 30, 2026), the program was found to be running a deficit of approximately $83 million. Since then, two whistleblowers have come forward saying they were retaliated against for calling out these deficits. Carmel Pacheco-Aragon: The Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s chief financial officer filed a suit alleging she was placed on administrative leave after reporting an $83 million shortfall for fiscal year 2026 and warning about improper fund transfers without legislative approval. The Department’s former budget director Kimberly Gonzales filed a subsequent lawsuit claiming she was wrongfully terminated for publicly reporting that the department was facing a $258 million shortfall, partially due to the state’s new universal childcare program.

Clearly, MLG’s administration did not want the public to know the program she created was running massive deficits and took retribution on some of the best-placed people that she’d hired to manage the program. Those people can and likely will receive big payoffs (courtesy of New Mexico’s taxpayers) for their troubles. But, New Mexico’s Supreme Court simply ratified the Gov.’s seemingly unconstitutional power grab without so much as a hearing and from a policy perspective that’s all that matters. MLG is getting her way by clearly abusing her power (in multiple ways) and setting a precedent that allows future governors to engage in the same behaviors.

The political and legal incentives to abuse the law in support of an unproven and at best questionable policy is one of MANY reasons why New Mexico is ranked poorly when compared with other states.