Over the weekend Republicans gathered in Ruidoso for their “pre-primary convention.” Among other news from the event is that Rio Rancho Mayor Greg Hull led the vote tally with 239 votes from delegates. Doug Turner, a businessman and latecomer to the race, got 104 votes, meaning both will be on the ballot for Republican voters June 2. Other candidates can collect more signatures to get on the ballot. While an interesting barometer the pre-primary convention is not a particularly barometer in determining electoral success.

The same is true for the CD 2 race where Greg Cunningham is on the ballot running against Rep. Gabe Vasquez but Jose Orozco will need to collect more signatures. The race represents the best opportunity for Republicans to win a US House seat in New Mexico this year.

At their meeting on Monday, March 16, Albuquerque’s City Council will likely be voting on a plan to increase the City gross receipts tax by a massive 0.4875%. We’d like your help to stop it. We believe that Councilors Lewis, Grout, and Champine are solid “no’s” but it is worth contacting ALL other members of the council including co-sponsor of the tax hike Brook Bassan.

You can reach each or all councilors here. 

Fresh off a legislative session during which New Mexicans saw increased vehicle registration fees and business tax hikes Albuquerque’s City Council is going to be considering a massive 0.4875% increase in the local gross receipts tax. The tax hike has been introduced by councilors Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan. Although Council elections are non-partisan Bassan is widely considered a Republican while Baca is a Democrat. The current total tax rate is 7.625% in the City meaning the tax hike would take the City to 8.113 percent. Neighboring Rio Rancho which also has substantially lower property taxes has a 7.4375% GRT.

The planned GRT hike would be a 6.4% increase in the overall GRT rate. But, Albuquerque currently collects GRT at a rate of 2.3125% meaning that from the City’s perspective this is a massive 21% tax hike in Albuquerque’s gross receipts tax. 

While New Mexico’s politicians tout “affordability” the reality is that politicians in the State simply cannot get enough of our tax money. In 2017 the City spent $926,388. That number jumped to $1.5 billion by 2026. Yet, once again there are plans afoot for another tax increase at City Hall. As a reminder the gross receipts tax is considered a “regressive” tax meaning that it impacts lower income taxpayers the most.

Here are a few proposed messages you can send (or edit for your purposes). Use this link to find councilor contact information. 

1) I urge you to vote NO on the proposed tax increase which, if adopted, would increase the City’s gross receipts tax by a significant 0.4875%. Council rejected a 3/8ths cent tax hike last year and should do the same this year. If adopted, this tax would push the City above 8%. The City which has been flush with revenue in recent years simply doesn’t need the money. This is an unnecessary cash grab and I urge you to reject it.

2) I urge you to vote NO on the proposed gross receipts tax increase. City spending approximately doubled over Mayor Keller’s first 8 years in office from $750 million to $1.5 billion. We have resources available to address core city functions without raising taxes.

3) I urge you to vote NO on the proposed gross receipts tax. The GRT is a “regressive” tax meaning that the poor are impacted more than are wealthier people. We should ALL be concerned about affordability and bringing down the cost of living for all Albuquerque residents. This is absolutely NOT the time to enact big tax increases on those least able to afford it.

With Albuquerque City Council having taken a sizable step leftward in the last election it is only a matter of time before the bad policies start moving forward through Council. Next up is “Ranked Choice Voting,” a confusing voting system that would, if adopted, make election night results a thing of the past as a complicated series of calculations would need to be made in order to decide the winner in a race of three or more people.

Legislation is to be heard in a committee on Monday, March 9. This is NOT final passage. We’ll keep you posted on that. You can find the text here.  As Trent England and Jason Snead write:

Ranked choice voting tabulation starts by eliminating the least popular candidate, which really means eliminating the votes (first-place rankings) for that candidate. If affected voters ranked other candidates, their votes are shifted to their second-place rankings, and this repeats until a winner clinches a “majority.” But here is the kicker: along the way, if voters run out of rankings before the final round of tabulation, their ballots are eliminated from the final results. It’s as if those people never voted—all to make it appear that the winner has majority support. Their votes simply disappear from the final results.

With ranked choice voting, your right to vote does not include the right to have your vote count for an unpopular candidate. Nor does it include the right to timely and reliable election results.

Although Santa Fe has had ranked choice voting for eight years, the Santa Fe New Mexican headline says it all. You can read the entire article by clicking on it as well.

HB 99 which makes necessary positive changes to New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws is a HUGE victory for New Mexicans. We sincerely applaud Gov. Lujan Grisham for signing the bill today and standing up for New Mexicans who need medical care but have been unable to access it due to the shortage of medical providers. It is likely the best piece of legislation to become law in New Mexico in the 20 year tenure of RGF president Paul Gessing.

Of course, it is worth noting that Lujan Grisham and many current members of the New Mexico Legislature played a key role in causing the medical provider shortage.

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Johnny Johnson of the New Mexico Trucking Association. The organization represents the interests of the trucking industry in New Mexico.

They discuss the Legislature’s tax increase aimed at truckers and the broader impacts of the road funding bill (SB 2). They also discuss the situation with illegal immigrants/non-English speakers on the roads and broader safety issues in the wake of the death of a sheriff’s deputy near Albuquerque. Finally, they discuss federal regulations and their impact on trucking safety.

You don’t want to miss this important discussion!

New Mexico’s incredible oil and gas boom continues to pump money into New Mexico. And, while the size and scope of government continues to grow (free college, free pre-K, and now free childcare to name just three of the Gov.’s socialistic “cradle to career” priorities) average citizens and businesses haven’t seen much support. In fact, multiple tax hikes were passed in the Legislature and are likely to become law including taxes on motorists AND businesses.

According to the latest information available from the State Investment Council the value of New Mexico’s permanent funds now come to a mind-blowing $70 billion. The last time we checked in on these funds back in August of 2025 the funds’ value had risen to $64 billion.

On one hand this massive pile of cash is a great bulwark against future budgetary challenges. The money could also be used to diversify New Mexico’s heavily-oil and gas dependent economy. Sadly, New Mexico politicians patently refuse to reduce New Mexicans’ tax burdens as part of broader economic reforms to make New Mexico more prosperous, less reliant on government handouts, and more economically diverse.

RGF president Paul Gessing will speak at an Americans for Prosperity event alongside New Mexico Sen. Jay Block at a public event on March 12 at 6pm at 3791 Southern Blvd, SE #240 in Rio Rancho.

We’ll discuss the recently-completed legislative session and what happened and didn’t happen for and against taxpayers and business. See the flier below to RSVP. Don’t miss it!

The medical malpractice bill passed in the recently completed legislative session hasn’t even been signed by the Gov. (she has one week left) and Democrat House Speaker Javier Martinez has already proclaimed his plan to push for “single payer” health care in the next 60-day legislative session. As Martinez told KRQE 13, “I believe that the fix for this is a Universal single-payer healthcare system.”

This is hardly surprising considering that Martinez decried the American “for profit” healthcare model and touted the benefits of the Cuban health care system during the recent 2026 session.

As a reminder, single payer health care means that one entity—usually the government—collects funds and pays for all essential healthcare services for every resident. While single payer systems exist in many countries no other US state has enacted and stuck with such a plan. A few relevant cases include:

• Vermont: In 2011, Vermont passed legislation to create “Green Mountain Care,” intending to be the first state with a single-payer system. However, the plan was abandoned in 2014 due to unsustainable, projected tax increases.
• In 2016, Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected Amendment 69, a ballot initiative designed to create “ColoradoCare,” the nation’s first state-level single-payer healthcare system. The measure failed by a 4-to-1 margin (roughly 80% against), due to concerns over high tax increases, the elimination of private insurance, and economic impacts.

One thing that Martinez is undoubtedly going to rely on is the existence of New Mexico’s massive oil and gas revenues (and permanent funds which is now valued at a mind-blowing $70 billion). As mentioned above, cost concerns have been significant issues for past single payer efforts. Creating a costly single payer system in New Mexico would involve massive infusions of oil and gas cash in order to avoid unpopular, massive tax hikes that have torpedoed such efforts in other states.

The following image is from a group called The Third Way. Massachusetts has “RomneyCare” which is much more similar to “ObamaCare” and is NOT single-payer.

Ben Ray’s big dumb idea.

Did you know: NM has money to burn?

Deb Haaland touts left wing policies but makes an admission on the minimum wage.

In the wake of the 2026 legislative session House speaker Javier Martinez says he wants to push for a Universal single-payer healthcare system.

Medical malpractice bill was a major victory, but more is needed.

An audit found New Mexico’s child welfare agency did not properly spend $4.2 million from an appropriation intended for behavioral health services.

ICE could sign a contract with Hobbs detention facility circumventing a recently passed New Mexico law.

The following appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on March 2nd, 2026 and in other newspapers across New Mexico.

The passage of medical malpractice reform is the most important public policy success in New Mexico in more than a decade. It took support from New Mexicans of every political stripe and a bipartisan coalition in the Legislature to achieve this success, but at long last the state’s malpractice-driven doctor shortage may be over.

In addition to the medical malpractice bill, the Legislature entered New Mexico into the national doctor compact and enacted a $10,000 tax credit for physicians. Combined, this may be enough to start turning the tide. It is cause for celebration, but please don’t misunderstand, New Mexico still faces major challenges in attracting and retaining doctors.

Rather than being lulled into believing that the problem has been solved, New Mexicans need to focus on additional ways to make our state more attractive for doctors. The good news is that many needed policy changes, if enacted, would make New Mexico more attractive for other professionals as well. The bad news is that it took such overwhelming support and effort from all sides of the political spectrum to get essential medical malpractice reforms through the Legislature. It will be hard to marshal the same resources and political consensus in the future.

In fact, the Legislative Finance Committee in its pre-session survey of medical providers and why so many of them are considering leaving, found that behind medical malpractice and punitive damages, the next biggest issues facing doctors were issues around “quality of life” and “compensation.”

While the victory on medical malpractice this session was challenging enough, solving issues around quality of life and compensation could be even more of a challenge, especially for New Mexico’s majority Democrats. After all, “compensation” at least partly means long-overdue reforms to the gross receipts tax, it also means New Mexico’s top income tax rate is too high, and with so many in our state on Medicaid, the program offers a lower reimbursement rate than private insurance.

The gross receipts tax remains a big, unnecessary problem for the medical field. In 2026 Senate Bill 133 was introduced. It proposed to deduct receipts from selling in-office, nondiagnostic equipment to health care practitioners. Another bill, House Bill 338, would have extended New Mexico’s GRT deduction for medical deductibles and copays beyond the current exemption’s 2028 expiration deadline (just two years away).

Both these concepts should be adopted and soon. Better yet, the gross receipts tax needs to be thoroughly reformed to remove business inputs from taxation. Such a move would benefit all areas of the economy including the health care sector. And, considering how much was spent in growing government this session, the state clearly has plenty of money available despite lower oil prices.

Quality of life issues are even more difficult. While New Mexico’s weather, mountains and culture are considered unique in good ways, the state’s crime problem (especially in Albuquerque) and its poor schools are big challenges that require bold reforms. Of course, the GRT, New Mexico’s high poverty rate, poor schools and high crime are nothing new to policymakers.

In fact, there are clear and obvious reforms that would unleash New Mexico’s economy, especially at a time of record oil and gas revenues, but our Legislature and governor have refused to make necessary reforms for many years, even a few years ago when our state had multibillion-dollar budget surpluses.

Positive change in New Mexico comes hard. It’s why we tend to rank poorly on so many state comparison lists. Medical malpractice is a massive win for New Mexico and those seeking medical treatment here, but there is much more to be done to make New Mexico an attractive destination for highly paid professionals, medical or otherwise.

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. 

Fresh off a legislative session during which New Mexicans saw increased vehicle registration fees and business tax hikes Albuquerque’s City Council is going to be considering a massive 0.4875% increase in the local gross receipts tax. The tax hike has been introduced by councilors Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan. Although Council elections are non-partisan Bassan is widely considered a Republican while Baca is a Democrat. The current total tax rate is 7.625% in the City meaning the tax hike would take the City to 8.113 percent. Neighboring Rio Rancho which also has substantially lower property taxes has a 7.4375% GRT.

The planned GRT hike would be a 6.4% increase in the overall GRT rate. But, Albuquerque currently collects GRT at a rate of 2.3125% meaning that from the City’s perspective this is a massive 21% tax hike in Albuquerque’s gross receipts tax. 

While New Mexico’s politicians tout “affordability” the reality is that politicians in the State simply cannot get enough of our tax money. In 2017 the City spent $926,388. That number jumped to $1.5 billion by 2026. Yet, once again there are plans afoot for another tax increase at City Hall. As a reminder the gross receipts tax is considered a “regressive” tax meaning that it impacts lower income taxpayers the most.

There are many bad ideas in Washington, but leave it to New Mexico’s Democrat Sen. Ben Ray Lujan to come up with one of the dumbest. He has co-sponsored the S. 3892 which they are calling the “Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2026.”

Setting aside for a moment the fact that grocery stores operate on margins of between 1% and 3% and that any “price gouging” would be readily-apparent to shoppers, there are some other “off-the-wall” parts of this bill including the following:

“Stores larger than 10,000 square feet cannot use electronic shelf labels or digital displays for pricing. They must present prices in non-digital formats, such as printed tags.” The idea that Congress should make this a federal law is an affront to federalism (for starters), but what is the point of forcing grocery stores to send a clerk around to manually adjust prices when it can more easily and quickly done by a remote control?

And, while inflation has been high in recent years there have been ups AND downs in terms of pricing of eggs, milk, meat, and numerous other products in recent years. Is Ben Ray Lujan trying to solve a problem or just grandstand?

On this week’s show Paul interviews Fred Nathan, the founder and leader of Think New Mexico. Fred and his organization played a lead role in achieving medical malpractice reform in the 2026 session along with some other significant victories.

Paul and Fred discuss the path of HB 99 (med mal reform) through the legislative process and address what his group (and RGF) have planned next in the area of attracting medical providers to New Mexico. Check this important discussion out!

That’s not just OUR viewpoint, recently a New Mexico State Senator (Antonio “Moe” Maestas) was quoted as saying this. See story below. Of course, as we’ve said repeatedly in recent years, New Mexico has plenty of money to do nearly anything it wants. Sadly, policymakers have:

• • Found plenty of money for a costly $850 million annual universal child care program.
  • They handed MLG $308 million for “quantum computing.”
  • Eliminated 1,000 jobs in communities with ICE facilities.
  • Offered taxpayer-funded handouts to media outlets AND newspapers.

Meanwhile, just this session New Mexico’s Democrats voted to raise vehicle registration fees by 25% and increase taxes on businesses by $110-$120 million annually.

But, providing even modest reductions in taxes was simply “unaffordable” for this (and previous) legislatures. Instead, government spending has grown by more than 80% under this Gov. and New Mexicans remain among the very most impoverished in the nation with New Mexico continuing to depend on oil and gas.

We applaud Sen. Maestas’ honesty, but simply cannot understand why New Mexico voters are so willing to elect and reelect people who are more than happy to spend incredible sums of money on THEIR priorities while refusing to share that prosperity and money with the people they supposedly represent. Check out the story by clicking on it below:

Without a doubt Deb Haaland will be pushing all manner of discredited left wing policies that have kept New Mexico poor (despite its massive untapped wealth) for generations. You can read about her plans to raise the statewide minimum wage, ban rent fixing and spend more money renewable energy in the Albuquerque Journal. While the Rio Grande foundation has fully analyzed her plans here and found them to be deeply lacking, she makes a tacit admission in her statement to the Journal.

Among her plans Haaland wants to raise New Mexico’s minimum wage “from $12 to $14.50, with incremental increases over time.” We certainly disagree with that policy, but what Haaland said about that plan is the biggest “tell.” Haaland told the Journal, “We obviously can’t raise it to what it should be, right?” Haaland said. “Because it would be very high.”

So, Haaland is saying that the wage SHOULD be higher, but there might be issues with raising the wage to that level (so she’ll settle for $14.50 an hour).

The problem with minimum wages has been known for a long time. They push low-skilled workers out of the workforce by making them too expensive to hire. The Congressional Budget Office has said the same thing so it is great to see Deb Haaland acknowledging economic reality in at least this one case.

Of course getting the government involved in setting rent prices and forcing New Mexicans to use even more “renewable” energy will have their own negative impacts.

Among the many developments of the 2026 legislative session (thanks to the passage of HJR 5) is the fact that New Mexico voters will have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment asking them whether or not they wish to pay legislators an annual salary tied to the median household income in New Mexico which is about $67,800 annually.

The Rio Grande Foundation has long been agnostic on the issue of paying legislators. We do not believe that paying legislators will result in better legislation because New Mexicans have had plenty of chance over the years to vote for better legislators than hey have currently, yet here we are. So, the “quality” argument doesn’t hold up. That being said, fair pay for fair work is a free market principle based on sound reasoning and incentives reflecting the tremendous time and work which is definitely more than the 30 or 60 days of each session.

The problem is that the Democrats who control the Legislature and who supported this amendment (Republicans universally did not) overshot the mark. For starters, legislators would continue to receive “per diem” as they do now of about $200/day PLUS mileage reimbursement.

Additionally, New Mexico legislators receive a VERY generous pension. We are NOT fans of the pension system. We believe that paying legislators for time worked is reasonable, but the pension system does nothing to incentivize good work and everything to incentivize longevity. Oh, and IF the voters approve this plan New Mexico will suddenly have the MOST generous pay plan in the region by FAR. According to the National Council of State Legislators here are the legislative pay rates of our neighboring states.

New Mexico: $67,800 annually (proposed)

Arizona: $24,000 annually

Utah: $301 per legislative day (that works out to $9,030 for a 30 day session and $18,060 for a 60 day session)

Colorado: between $44,000 and $47,000 annually depending on service dates.

Oklahoma: $47,500 annually

Texas: $7,200 annually

As we have done for more than a decade, the Rio Grande Foundation has tracked the votes in New Mexico’s legislative sessions. The 2026 session was a short, 30-day legislative session, but some momentous bills passed (for better AND worse) and some horrible bills that could have passed were defeated, but often included floor votes which are included in the Index.

As per the usual, our Freedom Index involves rating bills from -8 for the very worst to +8 for the very best. Floor votes (and only floor votes) are compiled based on the bill scores and the relevant votes and each legislator receives a score. So, positive scores mean adherence to voting for limited government and individual liberty while negative scores are associated with voting for bigger government and higher taxes. Also notably House and Senate scores can’t be easily compared as they don’t vote on the some bills.

High Scores included:

Rep. Alan Martinez of Albuquerque had the highest overall score and the highest score in the House at 84

Sens. Pat Boone, Candy Ezzell, and Larry Scott had the highest scores in the Senate. They were tied at 76

Low Scores included:

Sen. Linda Lopez had the lowest overall score and the lowest score in the Senate at -84.

Sen. Angelica Rubio had the lowest score in the House at -42. House scores at the bottom of the scale were higher than Senate scores at the lower level due to the unanimous passage of several medical provider compacts.

In term two President Trump has taken on myriad issues that seem to undermine efforts to grow the US economy and reduce the cost of living for Americans. And, while the pro-energy aspect of Trump’s agenda has been helpful, his tariffs are not only NOT helpful, but his scattershot and nearly random approach has been detrimental. Perhaps more importantly, whatever you believe about tariffs as a policy, we at the Rio Grande Foundation have held that they (and other taxes) should be enacted by Congress, not just the president. This is true whether the administration in power is a Republican or Democrat.

We feel so strongly about the importance of following the US Constitution that we filed as an amicus (friend of the court) to defend the fact that Congress sets tariffs under the US Constitution. And, on a 6-3 majority decision released last week, we won.

While President Trump has (unfortunately) continued to push his misguided tariff policies by other means we remain opposed at least until or unless Congress acts.

And, while RGF does NOT believe in governing by public opinion polls it is worth noting that Pew Polling released in early February found: “By a wide margin, Americans continue to say they disapprove of the Trump administration substantially increasing tariffs: 60% say this, including 39% who say they strongly disapprove. By contrast, 37% say they approve of the increased tariffs, and just 13% strongly approve.”

Also, while the President seems to have other means of imposing tariffs he does so at the risk of doing great harm to the economy. 

Larry Behrens handles communications for the energy advocacy group Power the Future. He is a return guest to the show. Paul and Larry discuss the Trump Administration’s repeal of the “Endangerment finding” at the EPA.

They also discuss the net zero bill SB 18 which was narrowly defeated in the New Mexico Legislature, the latest on EV’s now that state mandates are no longer in effect, and the plans by radical environmentalists to shift attention to EV buses. Check out this informative conversation!

Prior to the 2026 legislative session it looked like there might not be a tax bill in Santa Fe. But, there wound up being one (SB 151) and it passed into law. Unfortunately, this is another BAD piece of legislation out of this Legislature. We have rated it a -6 in our Freedom Index because it is an unnecessary and harmful tax increase on New Mexico businesses. When the Legislature and Gov. talk about diversifying our economy they SHOULD mean making New Mexico more economically-competitive, but they usually mean just handing special tax breaks and checks for millions of dollars to various businesses instead.

SB 151 includes a $110 to $120 million annual “increase” in the corporate income tax. Federal tax legislation lowered the federal tax and New Mexico typically would follow that, but instead our Legislature and Gov. specifically acted to keep the tax the same, thus making this a relative (and highly unnecessary) tax hike. Even with other policies stuck into the bill that reduce tax revenues to the state SB 151 results in a completely unnecessary $60-$70 million annual tax increase.  What IS in the rest of the bill?

1. A “refundable” (meaning it can result in outright spending) journalism tax credit equal to 30 percent of the company’s annual wages. The total amount that can be claimed each year is capped at $4 million. We don’t oppose ALL tax credits, but the last thing we need is a GREATER role for government in the media.
2. Gross receipts tax (GRT) deduction for receipts from the sale of construction materials and labor used in the development of affordable multifamily residential housing projects. Yet again the Legislature recognizes the tremendous harm of the GRT on economic activity, but only addresses it in a narrowly targeted way. If this provision eliminated the GRT for ALL residential construction or eliminated it for ALL construction we’d strongly support it, but for ONLY affordable projects, we can’t. 
3. Non-refundable $10 thousand (non-refundable) income tax credit for qualified physicians. We DO support this one although we’d prefer tax reductions for ALL New Mexicans which would be easily affordable. 
4. News printer tax credit. We oppose, see #1 for explanation.
5. Extension of high wage tax credit which rewards employers for every job they create above a certain income threshold through July 1, 2036: This is fine (less than optimal) but is only $10 million annually, a fraction of the corporate income tax hike revenue.

Along with SB 2 which increased taxes on vehicle registrations by 25% this session was shockingly bad for tax hikes considering the continued revenue and spending growth of New Mexico state government. From “free” child care to $308 million spent on quantum computing and many other spending items  New Mexico’s Legislature yet again placed a greater financial burden on New Mexicans.

With the session about to conclude at noon today (Thursday, 2/19), we already have a basic grasp on some of the good, bad, and ugly from this Legislature. We will update this post after the session officially concludes. Notably, unlike the 2026 session which didn’t have any really “good” policies (besides the “microgrid bill,” which very much flew under the radar LAST year), the 2026 session had some bigger policy wins and some more concerning losses.

Let’s start with the GOOD things that happened this year:

1. HB 99 reforms New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws providing needed caps for payouts. It is not only the best thing from this session but one of the best bills passed in a VERY long time.
2. Two few health care compacts have passed so far: one for physicians and one for social workers. The physician compact is also very helpful in addressing the doctor shortage.

Sadly, in terms of BAD ideas there are still more (and more impactful) really awful bills that will become law thanks to actions taken this session than there will good ones.

1. The VERY worst bills this year were for “Free” childcare which was in both the budget HB 2 and SB 241. It is going to be incredibly expensive with a starting price tag of $850 million annually and rising rapidly for there, all for a program that hurts kids.
2. SB 2 addresses New Mexico’s roads problems but raises taxes on freight truckers and average motorists. It DOES impose a fee on electric vehicles, but tax hikes are completely unnecessary in a state with oil and gas largesse.
3. HB 9 shutters ICE facilities in New Mexico potentially costing areas of the state 1,000 jobs.
4. HB 2 (the budget) among many other issues spends $308 million on “quantum computing.”
5. SB 151 (the tax bill) This bill is ultimately a tax increase of $110-$120 million annually driven by the “decoupling” of New Mexico from corporate tax provisions in the federal “Big Beautiful Bill.” There are some good and not-so-good tax reduction provisions within the bill, but it is ultimately an unnecessary tax hike.

Bills that were too UGLY even for New Mexico’s left wing legislature include (thankfully these bills failed):

1. SB 17 a blatantly unconstitutional gun grab and effort to put gun sellers out of business.
2. SB 18 would have completely destroyed New Mexico’s economy by forcing our state to eliminate CO2 emissions by 2050.
3.  SB 235 would shut down “microgrids” that are providing one of the best opportunities for economic development in New Mexico by forcing data centers and other electricity intensive facilities to use wind and solar which would be impossible and likely chase them to other neighboring states.

While there were many successes, let there be no doubt that much harm continues to be done to New Mexico and its economy by this Legislature and Gov. While MLG leaves office at year-end will the future see improvement or more of the same?

After enough twists and turns to fill an Agatha Christie novel HB 99 passed the New Mexico House of Representatives last night (Tuesday) and sent the (relatively) clean medical malpractice reform bill to the Gov.’s desk where she is expected to sign it.

According to Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal, “The bill also would create a tiered system that would cap punitive damages at about $1 million for independent physicians and clinics, $6 million for locally owned hospitals and $15 million for larger corporate-owned hospitals.”

While imperfect, this is far better than the status quo or the amended versions of the bill. The trial attorney lobby (who dominate the Senate Judiciary Committee) was overwhelmed by New Mexicans and their legislators of both parties who are demanding New Mexico be made more attractive for medical professionals to practice. Will this SOLVE New Mexico’s challenges in attracting and retaining health care professionals? No, but it is certainly worth celebrating and it is a BIG step.

The Rio Grande Foundation has worked on the medical provider shortage problem including our research paper which highlights numerous issues. But, there is much more to be done.

The GRT on medical providers and products needs to be addressed/eliminated (preferably the GRT should be eliminated entirely replaced with a sales tax, but starting for medical providers would help).

NM needs to shrink its massive Medicaid rolls and push these people into (preferably) private sector jobs with private health insurance.

NM will join a few medical provider compacts this session, but it needs to join more of them. We won’t know which ones we’ll be a part of until the session is completely done.

Finally, quality of life issues like schools, taxes, and crime are obstacles to New Mexico attracting medical providers. Those can all be addressed but the Legislature has been reluctant to do so.

Conclusion: This was a HUGE win for New Mexico. It may “stop the bleeding” when it comes to our medical provider shortage, but much more needs to be done and we’ll continue to draw attention to these issues and push for necessary change.

On the latest Tipping Point conversation Paul and Wally discuss  the latest from the Roundhouse with just a few days to go.

Paul and Wally discuss the gun bill, medical malpractice, the budget, and “free” childcare, the tax bill, and the prospects for each including the fact that pay raises for state government employees have been eliminated in the push for universal “free childcare”

SB 18 the Clear Horizons bill died in a bipartisan Senate vote last week.

NM’s House Speaker endorses Cuban health care during hearing over medical malpractice:

Stepping outside Santa Fe Paul and Wally discuss the unveiling of Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s ridiculous tumbleweed sculpture on the new and costly “rail trail.”