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bill SB 18 which was narrowly defeated in the New Mexico Legislature, the latest on EV’s now that state mandates are no longer in effect, and the plans by radical environmentalists to shift attention to EV buses.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.”

Nobody wants to see New Mexico’s economy grow and thrive more than we do. But New Mexico’s politicians (despite massive oil and gas revenues) have displayed little understanding of how to bring economic growth and diversification to our state.

We still remember the supposed economic impact of Maxeon Solar and Ebon Solar, neither of which have panned out, but both of which have been conveniently “memory holed.” Now, the Gov. and Legislature are planning (as part of the recently-Senate-passed budget) to pour a mind blowing $308 million into so-called “quantum computing.” The plan is to attract such businesses to New Mexico (using money from oil and gas of course).

We have no problem with quantum computing. We even support bringing data centers to New Mexico, but time and time again the Legislature and Gov. are ONLY willing to fund their own pet priorities, not to make New Mexico a more attractive place to do business overall by reducing taxes and improving our overall policy climate.

Instead, with just a few days left in the session we are likely to see a slew of special interest tax giveaways combined with tax hikes on truckers, vehicle owners (SB 2), and businesses (SB 151).

It HAS to be frustrating to live in Lea and Eddy counties or to represent them in Santa Fe. These counties account for 96% of ALL oil produced in New Mexico which is the 2nd-biggest oil producer in the USA.  They are also the two largest oil producing counties in the nation. 

On top of that, these counties are rock-ribbed “red” counties that share much more culturally and economically with neighboring Texas than New Mexico. They don’t see much return on all the money they send to Santa Fe and while they (for years) have been outnumbered in the Legislature recently saw further diminution of their power when the congressional maps were drawn by Democrats to split Southeast New Mexico. And then there are the idiotic efforts by some in the Legislature to pass bills like SB 18 the Clear Horizons Act which would effectively kill both oil and gas and New Mexico’s economy. The bill died this session, but it and others like it remain a threat.

So, how about those counties secede from New Mexico and (likely) join Texas? That’s the idea behind HJR 10 which would, if various votes are successful, give those counties the opportunity to determine their futures. Republican Reps. Pettigrew and Mason have put the plan together. The idea was written up in the Albuquerque Journal. 

While it’s an interesting idea and Rio Grande Foundation would support self-determination on the part of these counties it won’t happen anytime soon. Liberal politicians in New Mexico would be fools for letting all that “free” money slip through their fingers. Without oil and gas they might actually have to develop a private sector economy and take a more common sense approach to government spending.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller posted the video below in commemoration of the opening of the installation of the 25 ft. metal tumbleweed as part of a massively overpriced $80 million, 8 mile-long bike trail. While Keller is enthusiastic about the massively overpriced trail (a typical mile of trail costs $500,000, not $10 million), but most trails don’t have this “lovely art.”

The Rail Trail’s 25-ft tumbleweed debuted at the Rail Yards Valentine’s Day Market.

Designed by world famous architect Antoine Predock it’s now a citywide landmark and a tribute to the man who said he “got stuck” in Albuquerque and stayed 57 years.#OneAlbuquerque #RailTrail pic.twitter.com/fAM7ZIMRh6

— Mayor Tim Keller (@MayorKeller) February 15, 2026

Rather than a tumbleweed we think the sculpture looks like the Death Star. Perhaps a Death Star that zaps taxpayers’ money?

People often ask me why New Mexico remains at the bottom of the good lists and at the top of the bad ones. It comes down to electing politicians who fundamentally do not understand economics and the critical importance of individual freedom.

Take New Mexico’s House Speaker Javier Martinez as an example. Recently in a debate over medical malpractice Martinez took the opportunity (reported here in the Santa Fe New Mexican) to decry the “for profit” American health system and tout Cuba’s socialized model. It is rather wild that he mentions Cuba as the model since it is such an impoverished country relative to Canada and the UK and other nations with socialized health care. In Canada, for example, wait times recently were reported to have grown to 28.6 weeks, the second longest period on record. 

But, under a socialized system, what level of doctor choice is there? According to one Canadian website, “Many Canadians falsely believe that a patient cannot sue their doctor in Canada.” Does that sound like a place where doctors are held accountable by an aggressive legal system?

It is also worth asking Martinez about the fact that 45% of American health care and a much higher percentage of New Mexico’s health care spending considering our outsized Medicaid population is done by the government

Interestingly, Martinez ALSO makes a strong case in his remarks against the US efforts to prevent oil and gas shipments to the Island. Maybe deep down Martinez understands the importance of traditional energy sources better than he lets on? Check out his remarks here:

On this week’s Tipping Point NM interview Paul talks to Rep. Rebecca Dow about issues in the 2026 legislative session. Rebecca and Paul discuss issues in both houses that could have profound impacts on New Mexico’s economy and constitutional liberties. You don’t want to miss this “insider” perspective on the 2026 session.

The 2026 New Mexico legislative session concludes on Thursday, February 19. There are several important things happening that will impact our state economically and in terms of personal freedom.

1. In a HUGE victory SB 18 the Clear Horizons bill which would have mandated massive reductions in CO2 emissions with “net zero” required by 2050 died on the Senate floor. Passage would have been a disaster for New Mexico’s economy and for little/no gain. Here is a list of who voted to stop SB 18.
2. HB 99 Medical Malpractice reform passed the House Judiciary Committee and has been restored to its original intent of protecting doctors practicing in ALL circumstances from absurdly high lawsuit amounts. The bill heads to the House floor next and then needs to go through the Senate with a week left. The Gov. has said she’ll call a special session if the bill doesn’t pass, so this could get interesting.
3. SB 17, the most anti-gun bill in New Mexico history, is headed to the House Judiciary before it heads to the House floor for final passage. This one is VERY bad and VERY unconstitutional, but will be an extremely important bill to watch in the next week.
4. Free childcare is very much in flux but the Gov. is likely going to get much of what she wants. SB 241 which is heading to the Senate floor as soon as today is the primary vehicle for that along with the state budget.
5. SB 151 is a complicated and mixed bag tax bill that ultimately represents a significant tax increase and includes some dubious tax benefits (such as subsidies for “free childcare”). It is heading to the Senate Finance Committee. At very least the tax hike should be pulled out of the bill. Otherwise it should just be rejected.

As the brief 30-day legislative session heads to its conclusion in just over one week (next Thursday) a tax bill has emerged. It is Senate Bill 151 and here’s our analysis of each provision (basically a bill already introduced this session) which includes details from the Los Alamos Reporter:

• SB 12 – Physician Tax Credit: Establishes a $4,000 non-refundable income tax credit for qualified physicians to attract and retain physicians in New Mexico, addressing the state’s healthcare workforce shortage. RGF has no position on this. It will have some positive impact on doctor recruitment, but we’d prefer broader tax reductions.

• SB 36 – Quantum Facility Infrastructure Tax Credit: Creates a “refundable” tax credit (meaning it can be spending) for the development of quantum computing infrastructure, positioning New Mexico at the forefront of emerging technology sectors. The credit is capped at $50 million annually. RGF has a slightly negative view on this credit since it is “refundable” and targeted to one industry.

• SB 92 – Construction Materials Gross Receipts: Creates a new 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. RGF has a slightly negative view on this credit since it is only available for so-called “affordable” projects. This deduction should be available to ALL home construction.

• SB 120 – Local Journalist Employment Tax Credit: creates a refundable tax credit (spending) for local news organizations equal to 30 percent of the company’s annual wages. The total amount that can be claimed each year is capped at $4 million. RGF opposes this kind of narrowly targeted spending. 

• SB 133 – Health Equipment GRT Deduction: Creates a new gross receipts tax (GRT) deduction for receipts from the sale of certain in-office equipment and nonprescription in-office medications sold to healthcare practitioners or associations of healthcare practitioners, when the equipment or medication is used within the practitioner’s scope of practice to treat patients. RGF supports this as a means of making New Mexico more attractive as a place for doctors to practice. 

Finally, the bill creates two parallel tax credits for monetary donations to licensed childcare facilities against personal income taxes and corporate income taxes, for tax years after 2026 and prior to tax year 2037. The credit equals 50 percent of the amount donated in the taxable year, capped at $500 thousand per taxpayer. Eligibility is limited to donations made to a qualifying facility or program meeting subsidy enrollment requirements, and certified by the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD). The total annual aggregate amount of the two credits that may be certified is capped at $10 million

RGF is usually not opposed to tax credits, but  with the State now pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into “free” childcare, the last thing we need is a state tax credit to further subsidize this program. 

• SB 151 – Corporate Income Tax Changes: The net result of this provision would be an increase in New Mexico’s economically-harmful corporate income tax. It decouples New Mexico’s corporate income tax from three components of the 2025 reconciliation bill, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). This bill decouples New Mexico from three H.R.1. provisions:

• First-year bonus depreciation,
• First-year expensing for manufacturing facilities, and
• Business interest deductions.

RGF strongly opposes this provision. The corporate income tax is the most harmful commonly applied tax. It does not generate much revenue in New Mexico relative to other state taxes ($790 million out of more than $13 billion in general fund revenue), but does tremendous economic harm.

RGF cannot support this provision and this provision alone brings the overall tax bill (SB 151) to a negative score. 

ALSO, legislative analysts calculate the tax bill to be a tax hike of between $50 and $60 million annually. 

SB 2 has passed which means that the road issue has been “put to bed” for the time being. The bill which has been signed by the Gov. includes:

$1.5 billion in new road spending via a bond (debt) package. This also includes:

A 35% increase in the weight-distance tax on trucks

A 25% increase in vehicle registrations

A new fee starting at $70/annually starting in 2027 and heading to $90 by 2029 on EV’s (which don’t pay gas taxes)

Before the bill passed I discussed the broad issue associated with New Mexico’s roads with KOAT here (you can click on the picture below to watch/read it):

Then I sat down with KOAT to discuss the fee being levied on EV’s. (click picture to watch/read). You can find a chart of how much states charge EV drivers for using the roads. New Mexico’s fee is on the low side as the average is closer to $130-$140 annually.

On this week’s Tipping Point conversation Paul and Wally discuss numerous important issues in the New Mexico Legislature:

SB 17 the anti-gun bill passes New Mexico’s Senate

SB 18 (the attack on energy and New Mexico’s economy) awaits a vote on the Senate floor though Sen. Sharer has used a parliamentary procedure to slow debate.

SB 131 by Sen. Moe Maestas would reform numerous zoning and other housing restrictions. Sadly it was killed in its first committee

Anti-ICE bill HB 9 passes and is signed by MLG.

The Gov.’s free child care plan has been revised to include copays for wealthier beneficiaries.

SB 2 road bill signed by MLG including new taxes (bad) and a new fee on EV’s. $1.5 billion in new road funding.

HB 99 medical malpractice changes are up in the House Judiciary today. Can it be made effective by stripping out an unfortunate amendment?

Democrats, superintendents, and other defenders of NM’s status quo have produced a report claiming that NM is better in education than believed.

It is tough for New Mexico to gain attention in the national media, but our incompetent politicians try very hard. SB 18, perhaps the worst bill ever, to be considered in New Mexico’s Legislature, would be both unachievable and economically devastating. So, it is at once nice and also disconcerting that national energy expert and author Alex Epstein felt compelled to provide an exhaustive takedown of SB 18. You can read his takedown here and I highly recommend subscribing to his substack.

SB 18 could be up in the Senate Tax Committee as early as this Saturday. Despite this bill being incredibly harmful to both New Mexico AND the nation as a whole (read Epstein’s piece) it is going to be a tough bill to stop.

If you don’t like the results, just change the way those results are reported. That seems to be the MO for New Mexico Democrats and the government education system. After two straight cycles of being dead last in all four categories of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, (click here for 2025 results and here for  the 2022 results) New Mexico education “blob” which includes school superintendents and Democrat legislators (to name two) wants to change the narrative. They don’t actually want to change the education system, just the narrative.

This is all covered in a Santa Fe New Mexican article. The article does include a link to the report which is somewhat incomprehensible. Mostly, the claim is that New Mexico’s test has higher proficiency standards than those of neighboring states which makes it look as if New Mexico is doing worse than others. We have no dog in that fight as we have never used state tests because they change so often.

However, the claim is made in the article that the NAEP (which we use and is called the Nation’s Report Card) sample size of 3,500 students per state is too small.

We don’t buy it. We’ll see if New Mexico’s NAEP scores improve in the next round of testing, but until then all of this is noise. New Mexico and its largest districts (including Albuquerque Public Schools) have done SOME work around the edges. Will it be enough to bring New Mexico out of last place? Only time and the next round of NAEP testing will tell, not this report. We’ll stick with the nationally-respected “gold standard” NAEP test used by literally everyone (including the liberal Annie E. Casey Foundation in their annual Kids Count report).

Paul visits with Albuquerque business owner Doug Turner who is a GOP candidate for Governor of New Mexico.  Doug believes New Mexico is being held back by big government, one-party control, and leaders who have lost sight of who government is supposed to serve.  Learn more about where Doug stands on the issues facing New Mexico in this informative interview.

New Mexico’s 30-day legislative session is halfway done. Already a few important bills have passed or are on track to pass:

Good news:

Several of the medical provider compacts have passed or are one their way to passing. On the margins these compacts will help alleviate New Mexico’s medical provider shortage. There is more work to be done, however. Several compacts have NOT moved that should move. It is easy to see what is happening with the various compacts here, just search for “Compact” and you’ll find the various bills and their status.

Bad news: 

HB 99 which would have addressed New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws was amended in House Health Committee to exempt nearly ALL hospitals from the medical malpractice limits contained in the bill. The bill is in House Judiciary. We need the committee to strip out the amendment. MLG has made it clear this is a top priority for her before she leaves office. A failure to address medical malpractice could result in a special session (or two).

SB 18 the so-called “Clear Horizons” bill would lead economic destruction of the state due to this bill’s complete elimination of CO2 emissions in New Mexico. There are so many problems with this destructive bill. You can go to this link for more AND to send a message to legislators in opposition. 

SB 2 has already passed both houses. It DOES provide a needed $1.5 billion in road funding, but it does so in part by increasing taxes (35%) on commercial truckers and (25%) on vehicle registrations. On the positive side there are fees on EV’s for the first time which will help with road maintenance.

SB 17 would have profound negative impacts on New Mexicans’ 2nd amendment rights. It remains alive.

HB 9 purports to result in the closure of ICE facilities in New Mexico. The good news is that there are numerous workarounds that will likely stave off closure of these three facilities.

MLG’s plans for “free” childcare are included in the budget, but they include copays for those with higher incomes. While we oppose MLG’s plans to provide taxpayer-funded “free” child care for ALL New Mexicans, the Legislature DOES seem reticent to give MLG everything she wants. This is a dynamic situation.

While there are plenty of very bad ideas still active in the session and at least so far medical malpractice reform remains a serious challenge, we remain hopeful that the worst bills of 2026 can be stopped. We appreciate YOUR help by reaching out to legislators.

• Medical Malpractice bill altered destroying its purpose .

• Climate Change bill to be heard in committee with possible amendment.

• HB 9 which will eliminate involvement in ICE facilities passes house

• NM is one of 5 states to have lost population last year.

• Albuquerque bus ridership rebounds slowly in 2025 but remains depressed .

• Clean Fuel Standard finalized and will take effect on April 1 .

• Last week was School Choice Week: While we don’t expect much to happen on education here are a few items .

• RGF also helped to get a memorial introduced in support of the Legislature involving NM in Trump tax credit program.

The budget bill is shaping up in Santa Fe as House Bill 2, was approved on a 15-3 vote by the Legislative Finance Committee. The bill, as Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal writes, could be voted on by the full House later this week.

In it’s current form the budget would increase year-over-year state spending by about $294.5 million — or 2.7 % — over current levels.

But, the most interesting part of the budget is what it does to MLG’s “free” universal child care plan. The answer is it imposes co-pays for families making more than $132,000 per year for a family of four. Under the bill, the exact dollar amount of those co-pays would be tiered depending on a family’s gross income.

The plan would also rely on an additional $55 million distribution from the early childhood trust fund (this would require separate legislative approval).

MLG’s spokesperson stated that the Gov. doesn’t like the plan to impose co-pays.

Our take: Co-pays at least force participants to have some “skin in the game” in terms of participation. Of course, with a massive pot of money (the early childhood fund) available and likely future budget growth (both of which are driven by oil and gas) future New Mexico Democrat governors will have plenty of money to spend on “free” childcare in the future.

For now we’ll see how this debate turns out between MLG and the Legislature.

SB 18 is known as the Clear Horizons Bill, but if it were named honestly it would be called the “Destroy New  Mexico’s Economy” act. That’s because the bill is completely unrealistic in its goals. If adopted, the bill would force New Mexicans to  reduce CO2 emissions 45 percent by 2030, 75 percent by 2040, with CO2 emissions completely eliminated by 2050.

I could write an incredibly detailed 1,000 word essay with charts about why this is a bad idea, but here are just a few arguments:

1) If CO2 emissions are a problem then the focus must be on China and India which are emitting more CO2 every single year and dwarfing emissions from the US and Europe which are both declining.

2) This law will never be complied with, but the regulations will impose untold burdens on New Mexico’s economy in the form of job losses, regulatory burdens, and higher prices (no gas stoves, no gas cars, numerous other unrealistic regulations) .

3) If New Mexico policymakers were serious about reducing CO2 emissions they should be discussing ways right now to bring zero-carbon nuclear power to our state. Alas, that is not even a discussion in Santa Fe where the “Energy Transition Act” signed into law by this Gov. in 2019 actually has New Mexico abandoning nuclear power.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes and sign the following which will send a message to legislators in opposition to SB 18. It will be heard in its first committee on Tuesday, but this bill is a top priority for Gov. MLG and is likely to move further through the process. We need all the opposition we can muster RIGHT NOW!

HB 99 is the first of several bills relating to medical malpractice reform in New Mexico’s Legislature. With bipartisan support including from liberal stalwart Democrat Christine Chandler it is one of the better chances the New Mexico Legislature has to make needed reforms to the broken system.

Alas, it did not go well due to an amendment supported by the “progressive” Democrats on the Committee who changed the bill to NOT include investor-owned (as opposed to government owned hospitals). So, as it stands, only a small fraction of the hospitals in New Mexico would actually be helped by bill.

The hearing was poorly run and confusing with  the addition of the amendment being part of the problem. It was also unclear from the discussion whether non-profit hospitals like Presbyterian would be under the plan as amended (or not). It sounded like they would not, but that seems contradictory to the intention which is to penalize those supposedly “greedy” for profits.

While the policy is bad and ultimately harmful to efforts to address the medical provider shortage, the reality is that New Mexico’s legislative Democrats (with a few exceptions) don’t feel the need to make bold policy changes for the betterment of our state because they win elections no matter what they do.

Whatever happens for HB 99 and other medical malpractice bills we need legislators in both parties to prioritize the goal of achieving needed reforms and bringing more medical providers to New Mexico while retaining those that are here. Clearly, this is not at the top of Democrats’ list yet.

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Dr. Deane Waldman and Vance Ginn, Phd. They are authors of the new book “Empower Patients: Two Doctors’ Cure for Health Care.” They discuss the issues facing American health care and then discuss specific issues in New Mexico (Dr. Deane once lived in Albuquerque and served at UNMH). Ultimately, their book and this interview attempts to provide an answer to the question, “How can policymakers at both the state and federal levels solve our crisis in health care?”

According to data released by the US Census Bureau New Mexico is one of five states to have lost population in the past year. The Santa Fe New Mexican had this article on the data. The article notes New Mexico’s heavy dependence on international migration relative to other states (no differentiation is made over whether that is legal or illegal).  As the article notes, New Mexico was “the only state with population losses that had net positive international migration. It recorded 2,879 international arrivals, which outpaced its 2,267 domestic departures.”

Ultimately, New Mexico’s declining population numbers are shocking when one considers that it is the only western state outside of California to have lost population over the past year. Worse, New Mexico’s population is aging quickly as young people depart the state in exchange for retirees moving in.

RGF believes and its research shows that population growth and numerous other positive outcomes are the result of increased economic freedom. Unfortunately, New Mexico policymakers have managed to destroy economic freedom. 

Alas, Gov. MLG’s plans for her latest welfare program “free” universal childcare (and other cradle to career programs) haven’t moved the needle to make New Mexico a more attractive place to live. Increasing economic freedom by returning money to New Mexicans and improving the outcomes associated with basic government programs (like education and crime) would.