Surprising absolutely no one who pays attention to these things New Mexico ranked an absolutely pitiful 49th (out of 50) in the latest US News and World Reports “Best States” index which was just released.  You can see the variables and read the report for yourself, but New Mexico ranks 50th in education, 48th in crime, a shockingly poor 44th in infrastructure, and a surprisingly poor 32nd in natural environment.

While historical data from US News are hard to find, New Mexico has never performed especially well in the report. We did find a 2019 version of the report (Michelle Lujan Grisham’s first year as Gov.) which ranked New Mexico 46th overall. Notable was that in 2019 the State’s infrastructure ranked a respectable 17th. By 2024 New Mexico has fallen to an abysmal 44th.

There has been a spate of reports recently about soaring property tax assessments in Sandoval County. The Rio Rancho Observer had a detailed report and so did KOB TV. According to Sandoval County Assessor Linda Gallegos, “some properties were underassessed.” That MAY be the case, but the following assessment increases are unaffordable for many businesses:

Gallegos defended the increases saying, “Increased demand and higher sales prices in Sandoval County are the primary drivers of assessment valuation. Our role is to analyze the market in estimating the market value of the property. We also are aware that nonresidential property owners are alarmed by significant increases. This is why we encourage any property owner who feels that their property value is incorrect to file a protest and come forth with evidence to help us determine the correct assessment.”

Jerry Schalow, President of the Rio Rancho Chamber, said in response, “I’ve heard a lot of concerns around this. Based on the sample review, we see anywhere between 30% to 600% increases in the value. The small businesses that have already experienced 20% inflation over the past two years on top of wage inflation, a commercial property that is assessed at a higher value will also include higher property insurance rates.”

At RGF we have seen several dramatic increases including one of 240%. Commercial property owners are NOT protected by the same laws as are residential property owners. Unfortunately, it DOES seem like the assessor Linda Gallegos has taken it upon herself to “stick it” to the commercial real estate taxpayers of Sandoval County. Outside of an appeal which needed to be filed by May 1, there is not much that one can do. Highlight the issue and find a more pro-business assessor in the future.

Furthermore, the assessor operates largely on their own. This is yet another elected office with tremendous power to make what amount to life-and-death decisions for businesses. You MAY not think these down-ballot races matter, but they do.

Soon-to-be retired ultra-“progressive” legislator Gail Chasey did her best to compare left-wing Democrat US senator Martin Heinrich in Sunday’s Albuquerque Journal. The likelihood of RGF agreeing with ANY defense of Heinrich wasn’t great, but her defense really wasn’t about Heinrich’s political philosophy or his defense of New Mexico values or even specifying what he’s done to help victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fires.

Chasey’s column is hyper-focused on Heinrich’s ability to “bring home the bacon” (federal funds) like Domenici. Needless to say, we don’t see New Mexico’s outsized reliance on federal spending as a good thing. For decades New Mexico has relied disproportionately on federal dollars flowing to the State, but it remains among the most impoverished in the nation and all of those “pork” projects haven’t moved the needle.

The major difference between today and when Pete Domenici was in Washington is New Mexico’s massive oil and gas boom driven by fracking. New Mexico COULD be in the midst of a massive economic boom right now, but politicians like Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrats who dominate the Legislature share Heinrich’s leftist ideology, resulting in little economic growth. Naturally, Heinrich and MLG support the same radical environmentalist agenda at different levels of government.

And that’s where Domenici (both Pete and his daughter Nella who is running for the US Senate) and Heinrich differ. Heinrich cares about the radical “green” agenda like ridding America of gas stoves and ramming unwanted power lines (needed to provide “renewable” energy through Native lands. Even when Heinrich’s predecessor Democrat Tom Udall stood up for clean burning natural gas produced here in New Mexico, Heinrich has been silent because Heinrich really represents the radical environmental movement, not New Mexicans.

It is widely rumored that Heinrich plans to run for Governor of New Mexico to succeed Lujan Grisham. While Heinrich’s radical agenda has been somewhat hidden as one of 100 senators in Washington, his influence is likely to grow if reelected as he MAY be chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee w/ Sen. Joe Manchin retiring. If elected Gov. of New Mexico his influence (at least on NM policy) would be even more profound and negative.

Whether you think “climate change” is a clear-and-present crisis, a myth, or somewhere in between, there are effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions and their are ineffective ones. As it turns out, switching from coal to natural gas reduces CO2 emissions more effectively than do wind and solar. It ALSO:

• keeps the lights on;
• doesn’t require completely reworking the entire electrical grid at a cost of billions;
• doesn’t require subsidies;
• can happen more quickly than wind, solar, etc. including overseas in Asia where emissions are growing quickly;
• strengthens rather than weakening the US (and New Mexico economies). See below:

Natural gas is responsible for most (61%) of the decline in U.S. electric power carbon dioxide emissions since 2005, which is also the leading driver in total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reductions. pic.twitter.com/RD4ig9D2x0

— Richard Meyer (@RichardMeyerDC) April 29, 2024

We didn’t come up with that title. In fact it is from The Center Square article here.

New Mexico’s Economic Development Department announced plans this month to spend millions of dollars on “energy transition” projects with the goal of meeting climate change metrics and creating jobs. The only problem is she doesn’t know how much they will help in meeting those goals or how many jobs they will create.

According to a statement from the department, it has funded nearly $6 million for “four projects that will diversify the economy and create jobs unrelated to fossil fuel development or use.

Unfortunately, as the article notes: “In three of the four projects, a spokesman for the department admitted to The Center Square that it does not have an estimate of the amount of clean energy that will be created by the effort. Nor does the department know how many jobs will be created by any of the projects.”

Nothing to see here. Just New Mexico government pouring $6 million into a variety of “clean energy” projects for which the State doesn’t know how much energy or how many jobs will be produced.

On this Tipping Point interview Paul talks to Sam LeDoux. Sam is a recently elected member of the City of Española council. Sam, a longtime political activist with a long track record in politics is a Hispano Republican. Paul and Sam discuss how Republicans can win in northern New Mexico and what Sam believes are some of the issues/people holding them back. They also discuss the issues facing Española and what can (and can’t) be done to turn things around.

Politicians, especially those in New Mexico, never seem to miss a chance to use OUR money on THEIR priorities, even when (perhaps especially when) those schemes are failing. So, I found this article from Reuters which described problems FedEx and UPS are having in adopting to EV technology for their delivery vehicles. 

Achieving that aim (green vehicles), however, is hampered by battery shortages that are limiting EV supplies and keeping prices high, and by startup electric van makers that are running out of money and shutting down.

“The question is how many of those (companies) will be here in five years, 10 years?” Luke Wake, UPS’s vice president of fleet maintenance and engineering, told Reuters.

So, what do we see from KRQE Channel 13 on April 30? The New Mexico Environment Department is handing UPS “over $473,000 in grant money to replace 16 old delivery vehicles.”

On one hand delivery vehicles are MUCH better suited to EV technology than are family cars. The vans run around town all day making deliveries and starting and stopping only to return to their “home” charging station at night. But, if there are battery shortages and an unreliable supply chain businesses can’t really rely on EV’s to “deliver.” And, of course there is the issue of nearly half a million dollars being handed over to a VERY profitable publicly traded company.

Correction: The trucks being purchased run on Compressed Natural Gas. Apologies for the mistake. 

Shouldn’t SOMEONE on the political left be concerned about that? Oh, and will New Mexico buy “green” trucks for FedEx as well or just UPS?

The Rio Grande Foundation submitted the following comments to NM’s Public Education Department. You are encouraged to do the same. The comment period is open until May 29. PED’s proposed regulation can be found here.

You can comment via email Rule.Feedback@ped.nm.gov
By Mail:
Policy and Legislative Affairs Division
New Mexico Public Education Department
300 Don Gaspar Ave., Room 121
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

We all want high quality food items available for school meals, but have serious concerns about the specifics of PED’s latest proposal which emphasizes on-site gardening and food preparation as a means of supplying New Mexico schools with food. Specifically, the costs associated with the specific provisions would likely be astronomical and could result in food safety issues and even fire hazards. I encourage PED to “go back to the drawing board” and come up with alternative regulations that balance food quality and freshness with safety and reasonable cost concerns.

1. Half of all meals shall be freshly prepared meals at an onsite kitchen: Why? What is the benefit of decentralized food preparation in onsite kitchens as opposed to a centralized facility? What will the costs of installing food prep equipment and hiring staff at schools be?
2. School food authorities shall offer at least three items on a weekly basis from New Mexico farms, ranches, or food businesses: We support New Mexico farms, ranches, and food businesses, but also recognize that this regulation could impose outsized  costs on schools for little or no benefit to children consuming the meals. What happens in January and February when the growing season ends? How will food variety be impacted? Are there sufficient supplies to feed thousands of New Mexico students? Finally, what is a “food business?” Does Blake’s count?
3. No less than fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall grow food on campus to be introduced into school lunch programs (or) fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall have cafeterias with print or digital resources promoting locally sourced nutrition education: The first rule is completely unrealistic and potentially dangerous (food borne illnesses are real and can be deadly). It will require significant labor (especially during the summer growing season) not to mention the application of fertilizer and pesticides to significant tracts of land on school property. The 2nd option is a recognition that growing large amounts of food on campus is unrealistic.
4. At least fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall have a composting program in place: composting requires appropriate facilities and care. Even then they can catch fire as a South Valley compost facility did in 2018. Composting large quantities of food will require significant land and proper management. All of this requires significant human and land resources.

For the reasons outlined above and many more I urge PED to reject these proposed regulations.

On the latest Tipping Point conversation Paul and Wally discuss Gov. MLG caught on tape speaking to top Homeland Security staff. She certainly sounds more concerned about NM’s marijuana industry than fentanyl and the border. She’s “cranky” with the Secretary and holding the press “at bay”.

APS school hosts a drag queen at an Albuquerque high school’s prom.

53 New Mexico school districts have sued MLG over her 5 day school week mandate. The latest regulation being pushed by MLG’s education department is totally nuts.

NM is ranked 31st among states to retire. 

According to CNN, Ford lost $132,000 per EV sold in the first quarter of 2024 despite all the subsidies and mandates. UPS and FedEx run into troubles as they transition from gas to EV vans.

The US birth rate is declining, but those declines are not even across states. We look at where birth rates are highest and lowest among US states. 

New Mexico politicians simply LOVE to talk about the fact that school lunches in the state are “free” (at least to the students, not taxpayers). Apparently, however, things are not going particularly well with the program because the Public Education Department has issued a brand new proposed regulation that would completely overhaul the State’s school lunch program at what could be a MASSIVE cost to districts and taxpayers.

Public comment is currently being accepted by PED and will be accepted through May 29, 2024. You can do that here with much more detail on the proposal below:

Email Rule.Feedback@ped.nm.gov
Mail:
Policy and Legislative Affairs Division
New Mexico Public Education Department
300 Don Gaspar Ave., Room 121
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Under the proposed regs here is what a “level 1” school district will have to achieve lest they lose funding (below). Level 2 (outlined in the proposal) is far more aggressive:

• Half of all meals shall be freshly prepared meals at an onsite kitchen (seems they must be having issues with meal quality and consumption);
• School food authorities shall offer at least three items on a weekly basis from New Mexico farms, ranches, or food businesses;
• No less than fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall grow food on campus to be introduced into school lunch programs (or) fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall have cafeterias with print or digital resources promoting locally sourced nutrition education.

The first of these seems completely unworkable (and PED knows it which is why they have the 2nd component for “locally sourced nutrition education, whatever THAT means. Who will grow the food (staff, teachers, the kids)? What safety precautions will be taken to make sure the food is clean and safe? Schools aren’t in for much of summer. Who will consume and care for the produce then?  What will all of this cost? Will the tradeoffs in terms of labor, land, water, fertilizer, and pesticides really be worth it?

One additional item caught our attention. Under the proposal, At least fifty percent of schools in a school food authority shall have a composting program in place. If a single school is its own school food authority, that school shall have a composting program in place.

Composting food waste may seem like a great idea, but it is smelly and can even start fires if not tended to. In urban areas there may not be enough space available to compost appropriately while fire is ALWAYS a threat here in arid New Mexico.

New Mexico schools are ranked 52nd across the board nationally on the NAEP (Nation’s Report Card). There are fine components to this proposal, but overall these regulations are ridiculous, unnecessary, and dangerous.

The issue of America’s declining birth rate (and the relative rates among US states) is an interesting addendum to conversations that we so often have at Rio Grande Foundation about mobility (people tending to leave NM) and the aging of our nation and various states including New Mexico.

The following map highlights which US states are having more or fewer babies. Notably, no US state is hitting the replacement rate of 2.1. Not surprisingly, “blue” states are seeing the lowest birth rates with the West Coast and New England having the lowest birth rates. For a “blue” state New Mexico has a relatively high birth rate (higher than Colorado and Illinois, for example). New Mexico DOES have a higher rate than Montana (a “red” state) while Minnesota and Hawaii have relatively high birth rates for “blue” states.

How much of an issue/problem America’s low birth rates are is open to debate as is whether anything can be done about them in terms of government policy. However, there is no doubt that declining birth rates and the aging of our population will have some profound and unpalatable impacts on the economy. 

The decline in student enrollment at Albuquerque Public Schools is just one of many notable challenges resulting in part from the “birth dearth.” 

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with UNM Finance Professor Reilly White to discuss issues in New Mexico’s “Energy Transition” relating to electricity. While the transition was touted as zero cost or even a financial benefit for ratepayers. White believes that the transition will cost real money and will have some profound impacts on ratepayers and the future of PNM as an independent company alike.

New Mexico is just one of 9 states that imposes a tax on Social Security. But, as we know, retirement is about more than “just” taxes. Of course, taxes DO matter, but how does New Mexico stack up overall as a retirement destination? A new Wallethub report ranks the Land of Enchantment 31st overall. The report included multiple variables including: affordability, quality of life, and health care.

On affordability, New Mexico ranked 20th, quality of life a disappointing 45th, and health care 35th. Not surprisingly, crime is a big drawback to our overall quality of life and not ALL variables apply to ALL retirees, but the report does a solid job of looking at various considerations that might impact retirees in their decision-making process.

And, while “affordability” may have been our best category analyzed in the report, doctors pay taxes too. Reducing tax burdens (including our gross receipts tax which burdens seniors with taxes on needed services) with our multi-billion dollar annual surpluses would seem like a wise move on both fronts.

Local control vs. centralized control is one of the most critical issues in American government. It is the justification for the US Constitution and efforts to centralize control often have resulted in politicians ignoring local control in order to accumulate more power. The case of Gov. Lujan Grisham’s push to force districts to adopt 5-day school weeks is only the latest example in this battle and notably, Lujan Grisham has NOT received support for her 5-day school week mandate from the Legislature. In fact, the Legislature explicitly rejected her plan during the 2024 session. 

But, MLG went ahead with the 5-day mandate and now she is being sued by 53 of the State’s 89 “real” school districts (some charter schools are organized as “districts”). From a legal perspective this will be an interesting case to watch, but the political impact is what we’re watching:

1. The Gov. touts the supposed impact of her proposal on outcomes, but with no evidence that forcing 5-day weeks improves outcomes;
2. The education bureaucracy is populated by people and groups (school officials and unions) that tend to be on her side politically. 4-day weeks are popular with nearly everyone involved, so it is hard to see why THIS is the hill to die on.
3. There is no political constituency for forcing 5-day school weeks on unwilling districts. This seems like just another way MLG is attempting to flex her political power.

The Rio Grande Foundation continues to work with legislators to reform New Mexico’s laws governing public health emergencies (both the subject matter and the Legislature’s involvement in them). Sadly, while bipartisan bills have been introduced repeatedly in Santa Fe to give the Legislature a seat at the table, a majority of Democrats have opposed any effort to restore the Legislature to the process.

No one worked harder to oppose the Gov.’s abusive and anti-scientific COVID “emergency” orders which lasted until March 31, 2023. The Gov. then declared a “public health emergency” last fall relating to “gun violence.” While the most radical aspects (like the outright ban on carrying a gun in Bernalillo County) were quickly voided by the courts, the Gov. has continued to renew her public health orders with little notice from the public. In fact, we were unsure what the latest was.

So, here’s the Gov.’s website where they list executive orders including public health emergencies. As it turns out, we now have TWO public health emergencies through May 17. One is the renewal of MLG’s “gun violence” order. A second order deals with drug abuse.

The first pages of both EO’s are below:

On this week’s Tipping Point conversation Paul and Wally discuss:

MLG calls a special session starting July 18. We don’t have an exact agenda, but initial statements seem to point to some actual crime reforms, not gun grabs. Time will tell.  RGF publishes a report on “The Viscolli Gun Loophole” Some friends of Michelle seem to receive preferential treatment.

A new federal education report highlights the need for dramatic improvements (even from the Federal Government’s perspective.

New Mexico has seen an uptick in preschool attendance, but no word on results.

NM has had some level of state support for pre-K in place since 2005.

Our politicians are betting on economic losers including Virgin Galactic and Maxeon Solar.

Wallethub: NM employers face 4th biggest challenge finding workers. Meanwhile the LFC tackles workforce participation issues (again):

Paul’s op-ed on Biden’s horrible LNG policies hits papers over the weekend.

In New Mexico government the spending or expansion of government is often viewed as the “success.” Actual outcomes are an afterthought or not even a consideration. The State’s massive spending on pre-K is a great example. A new report cited here by the Santa Fe New Mexican touts the number of kids participating in the “free” program. Elizabeth Groginsky, cabinet secretary of the newly formed “Early Childhood Education and Care Department” noted in the article, “We’re excited because we keep the investment and we keep increasing the amount that we’re paying for pre-K so that those salaries can be competitive and that we can make sure that our children are supported in high quality settings.”

But New Mexico began ramping up spending on pre-K back in 2005. There are young people who went through the program who may have graduated college at this point (or have entered the workforce full time). We haven’t seen a high quality study of the students that went through the program starting in 2006 or any time since then. We DO know that New Mexico suffered from the VERY worst scores on all reading and math areas studied on the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP).

MLG’s COVID lockdowns undoubtedly had a massive, negative impact on student achievement, but it is impossible to see any positive influence from the State’s growing spending on pre-K. Will the LFC or the Early Childhood Department EVER do a credible study on the program’s outcomes?

The following appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on April 21st, 2024.

What if I told you that one federal government policy could do the following:

• Undermine Russia’s war against Ukraine (without the US spending a dime);
• Strengthen economic ties between the US and Asian and European nations;
• Reduce CO2 emissions;
• Increase US tax revenues and American jobs (including in New Mexico).

The policy I’m referring to is to allow American exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to American technological prowess the US is producing enough energy not only for itself, but for the world as well.

Sadly, that runs contrary to the Biden Administration’s efforts to undermine American energy dominance. Since January the Administration has maintained a moratorium on permits for US LNG export facilities. Reversing that policy is essential and would help to achieve each of the goals outlined above.

In 2014 none other than Democrat New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall wrote in a letter to President Obama, “a strong market signal from the United States that it is a willing future supplier of LNG, even if those supplies are not immediately available, would have profound, positive and immediate strategic implications.” That same year Udall co-sponsored legislation to speed up the review of LNG export facilities.

Not only was Udall a visionary, but his national security concerns have become more relevant with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the fact that they are funding their war with energy revenues. Russia’s war effort could be hindered by reduced energy prices and reliable energy supplies from the US.

LNG isn’t just an issue for America’s allies in Europe. A recent story from Nikkei Asia highlights how completely off-base Biden’s policy is. According to the article, “Massive volumes of coal must be displaced through the 2030s and beyond across emerging Asia to achieve the region’s net-zero aspirations. This inevitably will mean substantial gas imports.”

“India, Vietnam, and the Philippines are among the fast-growing Asian nations that plan to increase the role of gas in their economies through LNG imports as a reliable complement to renewable energy investment.” On his recent visit to the United States one of the primary objectives of Japan’s prime minister was to restore US LNG exports.

According to one report, the cumulative contribution to US economic growth from the addition of more LNG plants will range from $716 billion to $1.267 trillion between 2013 and 2050. This revenue and job growth that comes with it has had no discernable impact on the price Americans pay for natural gas to heat their homes and operate their stoves.

In fact, since New Mexico is among the biggest natural gas producing states in the nation (8^th-largest), our State is one that will benefit the most from growing LNG exports and that will lose the most if Biden continues with this senseless policy.

Of course, it is also worth noting just how far we’ve come in the past decade. Tom Udall was seen as one of the Senate’s foremost advocates for pro-environment policies. He not only tolerated LNG exports, he advocated for them.

Where are New Mexico’s current senators, especially Sen. Heinrich who sees himself as the heir to Udall’s environmental vision? Heinrich has been silent on the issue at least his actively updated Twitter feed has been. That’s not a surprise because Heinrich actively opposes New Mexico’s oil and gas industries. Instead Heinrich chairs the “bi-cameral electrification caucus” in Congress and spends a great deal of his time attacking gas stoves while advocating for complete electrification of transportation (and the rest of our economy).

Sadly, while the US continues to reduce its CO2 emissions, Biden and Heinrich are willing to ignore ways the United States can use its LNG-production prowess to help Asian nations lower their CO2 emissions as well while buttressing America’s allies in both Europe and Asia.

The Biden Administration and Sen. Heinrich should, like Sen. Udall, be tireless advocates for LNG exports for environmental, foreign policy, and economic reasons because exports are a “win, win, win” for America and New Mexico.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

We at the Rio Grande Foundation aren’t big fans of the federal government’s involvement in education policy on principle, but their report (you can read it here) has some useful nuggets. The following chart highlights serious issues with New Mexico schools regarding their accountability systems and fiscal controls. Seems like improving upon these would have helped avoid having federal and state taxpayers from having been ripped off by former Democrat Rep. (and APS administrator) Sheryl Williams Stapleton. 

Hot on the heels of RGF’s posting of a Wallethub report which cited the challenges of New Mexico businesses in finding workers. Almost simultaneously the Legislative Finance Committee produced an 80-page report addressing issues with New Mexico’s low workforce participation rate.  It is another worthwhile report from the LFC which has taken up the issue of New Mexico’s poor workforce participation.

Here are some findings:

• There are 206 thousand able-bodied prime working-age people in New Mexico who are not formally employed.
• New Mexico, which had the third-lowest male labor force participation rate in 2023. Low male workforce participation is particularly concerning for New Mexico because it negatively affects individual happiness and productivity, family formation, and household income.
• New Mexicans across all levels of educational attainment are less likely to participate in the labor force, but the difference between the state and national averages are most pronounced for those with only a high school degree or equivalent.
• Labor force participation correlates with economic growth, crime reduction, and increased average per capita earned income.

As the report notes right in its title, “New Mexico’s Workforce System is Not Effectively Reaching the State’s Disengaged Population.” Sadly, while the report discusses ways to shift around bureaucratic resources in ways that may (or may not) improve New Mexico’s workforce participation rate, it doesn’t tackle the bigger issues. And, perhaps since this is a legislatively produced report, it couldn’t.

Here are some ideas we’d like to see tried:

1. Reduce New Mexico’s generous welfare programs, especially for able bodied working age adults.
2. Remove unnecessary barriers to work in the form of taxation and occupational licensure.
3. New Mexico’s broken education must be reformed. RGF has LONG advocated for school choice and increased accountability in education. 1

There’s more, but if New Mexico policymakers even began to get serious about reforming these policies they could push more New Mexicans into gainful employment and off of government benefits.

The leader of a powerful anti-gun special interest group recently, publicly broke numerous federal and state gun laws. Those include:

• Failure to conduct a background check on a private firearm sale in NM (State)
• Possession of a firearm on public school property (Federal, State)
• Creating an unregistered NFA-regulated short-barrel rifle (Federal)
• Possibly transporting short-barrel rifles across state lines to Colorado without notifying the ATF (Federal).

Yet, this individual has not been punished for their actions. Read our latest policy brief to see why RGF board member Steve Dodson calls this “The Viscolli Loophole” Read this policy brief here.

According to a new report from Wallethub New Mexico employers face a significant challenge to find workers (ranking 4th in a recent report). This sounds like a good problem to have and it is in the sense that jobs remain plentiful in New Mexico and around the nation.

But, it also highlights New Mexico’s abysmally-low workforce participation rate. Getting more New Mexicans to work and pay taxes is critical to improving New Mexico as a state. It’s not just a necessity for filling jobs and growing the economy, but it will also reduce crime and reduce spending on government welfare programs (to name just two positive outcomes).

Source: WalletHub

While New Mexico is indeed blessed to have plentiful jobs, getting people off the employment sidelines remains a critical issue for the state.

Nobody LIKES to lose, do they? Sometimes it seems that New Mexico’s politicians enjoy putting taxpayer dollars behind losing businesses. Of course, we remember Eclipse Aviation of the Richardson years which went belly-up after blowing through taxpayer subsidies valued at $100 million.

The latest favored enterprise in danger of disappearing may be Virgin Galactic. The company for which Spaceport America was built (and expanded) at $275 million in taxpayer expense and counting, recently saw its stock price drop to $1.00 per share. The company’s stock had been as high as $55/share back in 2021, but it has now suspended manned flights and is “hoping” to construct a new spacecraft to help it turn a profit. The company is now in litigation with Boeing and there are real concerns over its future.

Enough about boondoggles past. The latest prospective boondoggle remains ahead of us. Maxeon Solar has announced plans for a massive factory based in Albuquerque. The plan is for New Mexico to provide a $2.4 billion industrial revenue bond and $20 million in LEDA funding for the facility (this is in addition to federal subsidies and state/local mandates). The facility is expected to cost $1 billion.

Maxeon’s stock has also been crushed in recent years with the share price having dropped from over $50 back in 2021. The current share price is below $2.00 per share. The solar industry is of course a darling of the Biden Administration and MLG, but would Trump keep the subsidies flowing and mandates in place to help solar companies like Maxeon? Are those even enough given the collapse of the company’s valuation in the last few years?

Only time will tell, but RGF has long opposed government subsidies for specific companies or industries. We support improving New Mexico’s tax policy by reducing taxes, improving our education system, and reducing crime. Those can be challenging, but they will actually succeed if seriously attempted.

Recently a long-time NPR executive made waves with his story of how NPR “lost its way” ideologically. Of course, while media outlets can choose to be liberal, conservative, or as centrist as possible, we know NPR receives federal funding. One of the local NPR stations KUNM is housed at University of New Mexico while KANW is owned by Albuquerque Public Schools. KSFR (Santa Fe’s NPR station) is housed at Santa Fe Community College. 

RGF is philosophically opposed to federal, state, or local tax dollars being used to fund media outlets, but we also believe that over the years their left-wing bent as grown more pronounced. RGF used to do a great deal with KUNM, sometimes KSFR would request interviews, and we’ve appeared in public forums at KANW.

KUNM had a weekly call-in show for years (maybe they still do) in which RGF would often serve as the “token” conservative voice among 2-3 other panelists (and moderator). Here’s one of those which discussed “net neutrality.” But for a time at KUNM RGF had the opportunity to do brief commentaries on issues we were working on. We discussed: capital outlay, corporate welfare, and the federal government’s finances.

Sadly, KUNM hasn’t called us in years and while we have had an opportunity to do election night coverage for KSFR in Santa Fe, we haven’t heard from them in awhile for a news story either. Again, we don’t NEED to have public media call on us, but they ARE taxpayer-supported and should be balanced in their reporting. The recent story about NPR highlights the leftward drift we’ve seen in New Mexico.