According to a new report by KRQE, the average cost of a family insurance plan (employer sponsored) is now $27,000. According to the story, “Family premiums are up 6 percent, or $1,408, from last year, more than double the rate of inflation and similar to the 7 percent increase recorded in each of the previous two years. On average, workers contributed $6,850 annually to the cost of family coverage, with employers paying the rest.”

There are numerous problems in health care both here in New Mexico and also federal health policy. Rising costs are driven by factors that include:

• the misguided third party payer system (why do employers get a tax break to buy health insurance for their employees while individuals don’t)? This drives up costs and takes financial incentives away from individuals;
• growth in welfare programs like Medicare and Medicaid which shift costs to others and take money out of taxpayers (health care consumers) pockets;
• regulations including those imposed by ObamaCare;
• Medical malpractice;
• Strict professional licensing laws; and numerous other issues;
• While it is not a policy issue it is worth noting that the aging US population plays a role as well.

Stein’s law (Herb, not Ben) states that “Something that cannot go on forever will stop.” These health care cost increases are simply unaffordable. Dramatic reforms are necessary to restore the doctor/patient relationship which includes some form of direct financial relationship. New Mexico’s medical provider shortage is just the tip of the iceberg. There are massive issues in the federal policy as well that must be addressed to “bend the cost curve” of American health care.

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Pete Dinelli. Dinelli has run for mayor of Albuquerque and has a long track record of service in city government. He currently runs a blog that covers city government and elections. Dinelli and Gessing discuss the ongoing city elections, the candidates involved, and issues in play. With early voting in full swing you don’t want to miss this conversation!

Gov. Lujan Grisham and a variety (but by no means all) Southern New Mexico politicians recently brough in Project Jupiter, a major data center that has the potential to transform the Las Cruces area’s economy. Water is a concern (although produced water could fill the need nicely). We don’t see water issues as a REAL problem. More fundamental is the issue of electricity.

As this article notes, the facility is going to use a massive amount of electricity, one gigawatt to be exact. By comparison, El Paso Electric owns about 2.8 gigawatts of generation capacity across its entire system, according to the utility’s corporate sustainability report. You can see a map of their service area below.

What is interesting is that MLG not only approved, but actively supported a facility that is going to require construction of a dedicated natural gas power plant to fuel the facility. According to the article, “Project Jupiter will pay to construct its own natural gas-fired turbine. Still, one gigawatt of capacity could take years to develop. For reference, El Paso Electric spent four years developing the Newman 6 natural gas power plant, which has a capacity of 228 megawatts (less than a fourth of Project Jupiter’s capacity) and cost $217 million to build.”

The idea is for the facility to somehow build enough wind and solar with battery storage. We don’t believe that wind and solar will be able to fulfill this kind of electricity demand in the future and that MLG is taking the economic development “win” and pushing the future challenges of so-called “renewables” off to the future.

As the article notes, “For now, however, energy generated within a privately owned micro-grid “shall not be considered retail sales” until 2035, according to the text of House Bill 93 (passed into law in 2025). That means Project Jupiter can rely largely on fossil fuels for electricity generation for years to come, unlike the main electricity providers in the state.”

To be clear, RGF does NOT oppose Project Jupiter. We’re not fans of the massive subsidies being given, but we think water can be made a non-issue. The electricity challenge is more serious, but clean natural gas is a worthwhile source for the facility. We simply note that the Gov. is clearly favoring a preferred economic development project over citizens of the state in what amounts to a newly-created “loophole” in the Energy Transition Act which MLG championed in 2019.

After all, if wind and solar with battery are so great and the facility will be using those sources of electricity within a decade, why shouldn’t Project Jupiter be forced to build out those sources RIGHT NOW? Simply put, for all the cheerleading and misleading claims made about “renewables,” they really aren’t cheaper or better than traditional sources like natural gas.

On this week’s Tipping Point conversation Paul and Wally discuss a recent Wallethub report that places New Mexico as the 2nd most impacted state by the federal shutdown: SNAP benefits, on which New Mexicans are disproportionately reliant, could be discontinued as soon as November 1.

Another fantastic Trever cartoon highlights the manifest failure of New Mexico government.

MLG has announced that she’ll opt New Mexico out of the Big Beautiful Bill school choice tax credit program despite the fact that New Mexico is dead-last in education.

RGF provided public comment on treating and using “produced” water.

New Mexico’s sovereign wealth fund has now hit $66 billion in value.

A new lawsuit targets MLG’s line-item-vetoes of a recent appropriations bill.

While there aren’t a lot of details at this time and the actual pipelines need to be built, the Rio Grande Foundation has long (for over a decade) advocated for New Mexico to be a player in liquefied natural gas exports and we are enthusiastic about the Gov.’s recent announcement about exporting New Mexico LNG to Japan. According to reports, “no contracts are inked for infrastructure or commerce… those are still a long way away.”

Japan, with little in the way of oil or natural gas domestically, must import large amounts of energy and natural gas from New Mexico and other Rocky Mountain states is a natural fit. The biggest challenge is physically getting the gas from here to there.

Whatever the challenges, exporting New Mexico’s natural gas to Asia is a real opportunity for New Mexico. And, since we’ve been discussing this since 2013 it is certainly not a new concept. Could it have been done before if it were a higher priority? What does the future hold? Those are impossible questions to answer. We are pleased to see this discussion moving into high gear and hope it will result in significant exports soon.

According to the City of Albuquerque’s website the 7 mile-long rail trail currently being built is expected to cost between $70 and $90 million. That means the trail is AT LEAST $10 million per mile. The Trump Administration recently canceled a portion of federal funding ($11.5 million) for the trail, a decision we agree with.

For starters, we believe that bike trails (and local roads) are local or perhaps state priorities, but certainly not federal ones. But the price tag of this trail is completely out of line with bike trail costs. A basic internet search yields a typical cost per mile of around $500,000 for either an asphalt or concrete bike trail. There is simply no reason for this trail to cost in excess of $10 million per mile.

Obviously the trail can still be built in the absence of the $11.5 million that Trump clawed back on the trail. Perhaps elimination of the massive 25 foot in diameter tumbleweed sculpture would help? According to the City website the City has “only” $39.5 million for the project (that’s including the $11.5 million Trump pulled) despite the project’s construction already having begun. Even the $28 million the City actually has “in hand” should be nearly enough money to build the entire trail based on $500,000 per-mile cost, but Mayor Keller seems to want a very fancy trail.

As New Mexico’s Democrat-dominated Congressional delegation continues to vote to keep the federal government shutdown it is worth noting that the Land of Enchantment is among the most federally-reliant jurisdictions in the nation. In fact, according to a new Wallethub report the State is 2nd-most-impacted by federal government.

New Mexico’s federally-funded national labs obviously play a big role in the state’s economy, but the State is also the most dependent on food stamps (SNAP) due to its high poverty levels (despite massive oil and gas revenues).

The following is a write-up on New Mexico from Wallethub:

New Mexico is the third-most affected (behind Hawaii and DC) by the government shutdown, largely due to the fact that it receives more than $6,000 per capita in federal contracts, the payments for which could be put in jeopardy by the funding freeze.

Plus, more than a fifth of New Mexico’s population is enrolled in the SNAP program. That means an extended shutdown could lead to a big chunk of the state’s residents struggling to afford food if the government no longer has any funds available for benefits.

To top things off, New Mexico has the seventh-highest percentage of federal jobs and the fifth-most national parks per capita. This means that many workers are going without pay and the state’s natural spaces will be much less well-staffed.

New Mexico Democrats recently patted themselves on the back in an Albuquerque Journal column. But, in reality New Mexico is one of the worst governed states in the nation. John Trever of the Journal’s Sunday cartoon highlights that reality in a simple cartoon below:

Despite having graduated from St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe Michelle Lujan Grisham is no fan of school choice. She doesn’t even like it when the federal government enacts programs to allow New Mexicans to obtain the education that works for them and their children. This is true even though New Mexico’s education system is ranked last in the nation. 

In the Big Beautiful Bill which was passed this summer a program to do the following:

• Taxpayers can receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for donations made to certified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs).
• The maximum credit is $1,700 per taxpayer per year.
• Taxpayers cannot direct their donation toward a specific family or student. 

• Qualifying families receive scholarships from Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO’s) to cover approved educational expenses.
• To be eligible, a student must be able to enroll in a public school, and their family’s income must not exceed 300% of the median gross income for their area.
• The scholarships can be used for a wide range of expenses, including private school tuition, homeschooling materials, tutoring, and special education services. 

The program is set to take effect on January 1, 2027, just as MLG leaves office (at the end of 2026). Sadly, this is an opt-in program, meaning states must voluntarily elect to participate. States must also approve the SGOs that operate within their borders. Lujan Grisham’s spokesperson Michael Coleman recently stated that New Mexico “would not opt into the program.” 

Hopefully New Mexico’s next governor will have a better approach than MLG. This is one of many questions that need to be asked of the candidates running for Gov. from both parties.  

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Dr. Jason Lucas an orthopedic surgeon from Farmington, NM. Dr. Lucas is a self-described fan of Tipping Point NM and we welcome his unique perspective on New Mexico’s medical provider shortage, especially his attempts to recruit other doctors to Farmington and the proximity of his practice to the Navajo Nation. Don’t miss this unique perspective on New Mexico’s medical provider shortage!

On this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss the Foundation’s recent media relating to the Albuquerque Public Schools $350 million bond. You can see the ABQ Journal article here and the KOAT 7 story here.

An update on the billboard campaign and state’s response.

Among the topics EDD has posted on is NM’s growth in manufacturing.

Another data point being touted by MLG’s administration is on the drop in child poverty. There is indeed good news albeit it is also a tacit admission that MLG’s prior statements have been misleading.

A pumpkin patch located near Albuquerque was attacked recently. Here’s more on the McCall’s attack by a local teacher union.

MLG is supporting a planned nuclear fusion facility and offering big subsidies for it. That contrasts sharply with her reaction to a nuclear waste storage facility’s decision to abandon New Mexico. 

RGF releases Freedom Index scores for the recent special session.

They say “agua es vida” in New Mexico (water is life). In the desert southwest water is critical to human flourishing and the broader economy of the state and region. So, when we were presented with an opportunity to put water that is produced alongside oil and gas, we had only one question: “Is it safe?” We spent 45 minutes on a recent Tipping Point NM episode discussing the safety of treating and using “produced” water. You can listen to that here.

You can read our letter in support of putting this water to work for the benefit of New Mexicans here.

If you’d like to submit your own comments to the New Mexico Environment Department on this issue you can do so here.

Even Gov. Lujan Grisham is generally supportive of this idea. Sadly, the opponents are powerful and well-funded radical so-called “environmental” groups who care more about killing oil and gas than expanding New Mexico’s water supplies.

There is an excellent opinion piece in support of using this water by Land Commissioner candidate Michael Perry.

Back in August we noted that the value of New Mexico’s sovereign wealth funds had risen from $58 billion at the start of 2025 to $64 billion by mid August. On October 12, 2025 the Albuquerque Journal again updated the worth of these funds to note that they total $66 billion. If you are counting at home that means the investment funds owned by the State of New Mexico have grown by $8 billion in value over the first 10.5 months of 2025 thanks to continued oil and gas growth as well as investments.

According to Rob Black of the NM Economic Development Department, ““You can look at Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and now, New Mexico, that are deploying a sovereign wealth fund aligned with strategic economic development.” We took a closer look at these countries’ economies and were rather surprised to see how low Saudi Arabia’s incomes are.

Regardless, New Mexico doesn’t need to hoard so much money. While growth in the sovereign wealth fund isn’t a bad thing. The State’s sovereign wealth fund is up 13.7% in less than a year. On the other hand it has obviously not done much to generate prosperity for average New Mexicans under the current Administration. It is time to us use those dollars to truly benefit New Mexicans.

Abu Dhabi’s per capita income was around $84,900 (2023),

Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita for 2023 was approximately $84,734;

New Mexico’s 2023 Real GDP per capita was $49,879

Shockingly, Saudi Arabia’s GDP per capita in 2023 was just $32,529

As part of the Department’s effort to tout positive data about New Mexico and its economy, the Economic Development Department sent out the following chart. The upshot of the chart is that over the last year New Mexico experienced 1.4% growth in manufacturing employment while the US as a whole experienced a slight decline of 0.6%.

To be fair, this is indeed good news, but yearly data bounce around all over the place. If you notice four of the top five states in terms of percentage change are small population Western states (including New Mexico). In fact, conveniently, several of the top performing states are in the Western US.

What is more notable than a small yearly change is the fact that New Mexico’s manufacturing employment is so small relative to our neighbors.

Colorado has 6 million people (about 3X New Mexico’s 2 million) but it’s manufacturing employment is more than 5X New Mexico’s.

Arizona has 7.3 million people (3.65X New Mexico’s 2 million) but it’s manufacturing employment is also more than 5X New Mexico’s.

Texas has 31 million people (15.5X New Mexico’s) but it’s manufacturing is 33.4X New Mexico’s.

Don’t get us wrong, New Mexico has seen some positive economic news recently, aided of course by the State’s massive oil and gas boom), but the year-over-year growth touted by NMED is trivial when the State’s fundamental manufacturing (and job growth) climate remains beholden to economically-harmful policies like the gross receipts tax which MLG once supported reform of. 

An effort to reform and reduce New Mexico’s tax structure would have a lasting positive impact on manufacturing and job creation in general. It’s too bad the Gov. and Democrat controlled Legislature won’t embrace them.

As noted in a recent post on Errors of Enchantment.com Albuquerque Public Schools is looking for a $350 million bond on this fall’s ballot. While RGF doesn’t necessarily oppose the uses of the bond we have looked closely at the APS budget and have seen a steep decline in the student population while the District’s budget has exploded.

RGF’s president recently discussed why voters should be skeptical about the need for such a significant bond. Check out the full report by clicking here or the image below:

Recently we covered a billboard campaign undertaken by one man in an effort to highlight New Mexico politicians’ failures on a variety of issues relating to crime and education. We happen to not only agree with him, but would add (and have extensively covered the fact) that New Mexico’s roads are falling apart, medical providers are in scarce supply, and that the Legislature and Gov. have failed to effectively use New Mexico’s massive oil and gas largesse in recent years to address these and other issues.

Well, New Mexico’s Economic Development Department responded with their own “campaign.” They are mock ups and they attempt to respond to the billboards. You can see several of them by scrolling through the Department’s Twitter feed. We’ll take several of them on here as of the afternoon of Friday, 10/10/2025.

1. NM has the 2nd largest sovereign wealth fund. Yes, this is true thanks to oil and gas. Why can’t we return money to New Mexico people and businesses in the form of tax cuts rather than government keeping all this money? New Mexico should be in great shape, but it is not.
2. NM is #1 in Family income growth.  We had an awful time confirming this data point because the EDD doesn’t provide a direct citation. One year of good data does not mean much. According to the Census Bureau New Mexico is the poorest state in the nation and nothing dramatic has improved during the nearly 8 years of Gov. MLG’s reign.
3. NM is first state w/ free child care and free college. So what? Has this led to higher incomes, improved outcomes for students/children? Are people and businesses moving to New Mexico for this? (the answer is no). It is time to judge New Mexico policies by their outputs, not their inputs in the form of more money).
4. NM is #1 in R&D spend intensity and PhD’s: Congratulations, we have two national nuclear laboratories thanks to historical accidents and federal taxpayers. The Labs are important to New Mexico, but haven’t gotten the State’s crime rate under control or improved educational outcomes overall.

The best quote comes from the man behind the billboards (keep an eye out for an upcoming podcast with him):

While I applauded everything positive New Mexico does to improve childcare and college tuition- the fact remains that 80% of eighth grader cannot read or do math at their grade level. And overall, our national ranking in education is Last Place— KRQE Facebook page shows over 3,000 likes and 1,000 heartfelt positive comments stating that we need to first admit that we have enormous problems so we can work together to solve them.

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Jennifer Bradfute and Matthias Sayer about the Water Access Treatment and Reuse (WATR) Alliance and ways they are working to increase the supply of water in New Mexico. Ironically, the effort is being opposed by well-funded radical environmentalists.

Agua es vida and this effort will bring more needed water to New Mexico. Find out more and how you can help on this episode.

It’s not “normal.” In fact, this was an “extra special” session of New Mexico’s Legislature. The Governor called it because she wanted to keep subsidies flowing to core political constituencies and keep New Mexicans dependent on government. She and the Legislature dominated by her fellow Democrats have had ample opportunities (including the special) to reform the State’s failing health care system and improve/diversify our economy, but she and many legislators in her party remain steadfastly opposed.

The Rio Grande Foundation didn’t just work at the Roundhouse this session, we also tracked the votes in our Freedom Index. You can find the votes for YOUR legislators and those of the rest of the Legislature here.

Nuclear energy is having a bit of a resurgence right now for obvious reasons. It is widely seen (by many on all sides of the political debate) as the only source of electricity that is: steady, zero-carbon, and can be implemented at a reasonable cost. Conservatives like it because unlike wind and solar it is steady and takes up less space than wind farms and solar fields while some (not all) environmentalists are willing to admit that wind and solar can’t fulfill our energy needs.

Which leads us to three developments in nuclear pertaining to New Mexico and Gov. MLG.

1. 1. Recently the Gov. touted a $1 billion investment from a company called Pacific Fusion which is planning to build a research and manufacturing facility in Albuquerque. We have concerns about the subsidies which include $9 million in State of New Mexico LEDA funds and $776.6 million in Industrial Revenue Bonds. There are also MANY reasons to be concerned about the viability of fusion as a technology which has not been implemented anywhere in the world. 
   2. The Gov.’s “Energy Transition Act” passed in 2019 does  include nuclear as a “zero carbon fuel” but focuses on wind and solar, not nuclear which is considered “non-renewable.” 
   3. MLG just announced that she has “successfully” chased Holtec away from building a potential nuclear storage facility in Southeastern New Mexico. Had Holtec built its facilities here New Mexico would have been the beneficiary of hundreds of jobs and hundreds of million of dollars of economic benefits, without state and local subsidies.

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

What happened during the special session?

The federal budget shutdown and NM’s recent special session are connected in some pretty profound ways.

APS is asking for a $350 million bond.

New Mexico resident puts up billboards discussing New Mexico’s problems.

Fusion company plans to invest $1 billion in New Mexico research and manufacturing facility.

Recently, the New Mexico Legislature in a special session DID NOT address the existence of ICE facilities in three New Mexico counties. Apparently there are enough Democrats who wish these facilities or at least the jobs and tax revenues they provide to continue. But, the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers union in the post below not only made their position clear but is attempting to harm the McCall’s Pumpkin Patch because one of the owners also serves on the Torrance County Commission and has supported allowing ICE to continue working in his County.

Whatever your views on ICE or immigration may be, this is one of many examples of why government employee unions shouldn’t exist. They don’t care about representing teachers and their interests. They never polled their member on this issue. This is a political position taken by the union bosses that could do real harm to a tax paying, hiring business here in New Mexico. On the flip side it is a great example of why the US Supreme Court’s Janus vs. AFSCME decision which prohibited the forced collection of dues and fees by government employee unions remains such an important protection of workers’ First Amendment rights.

New Mexico’s Tax and Revenue Department just released new data on child poverty rates in New Mexico. The press release highlights poverty reductions in New Mexico in both the “supplemental (including government benefits)” and the “official (not including government benefits)” rates. This is a bit of good news and of course Gov. Lujan Grisham is VERY pleased with herself.

As we noted back in January, the Gov. had previously claimed more significant reductions in child poverty rates that were an attempt to conflate the two poverty rates and mislead New Mexicans and the media. This time around the data are accurately represented. Notably, as the release points out, “the national official poverty measure for children improved just 0.4% in the new survey, New Mexico reduced child poverty by 3.2%.” So, with an ongoing oil and gas boom that has generated unprecedented revenue for the State and the Permian Basin, New Mexico’s children are finally seeing some positive momentum in terms of poverty rates. New Mexico’s children remain the third most impoverished in the nation.

On the Supplemental side of things the release touts the fact that the difference between supplemental and official poverty rates is “the largest difference of any state — and an indication that recent initiatives have effectively moved thousands of New Mexico families out of poverty.”

New Mexico has expanded direct benefits to low- and moderate-income families, such as food and housing assistance, free college tuition, affordable health insurance
coverage, and expanded early childhood education in recent years. New Mexico’s tax code has been extensively revised since 2019 to become more progressive, benefitting low- and moderate-income families. Since 2019, the state has twice expanded its working families tax credit, created a targeted child income tax credit, expanded the low-income comprehensive tax rebate, reduced the statewide gross receipts tax for the first time in 40 years, and exempted most Social Security income from taxation.

Indeed, thanks to oil and gas surpluses New Mexico has had the money to enact positive tax reforms and reductions like the GRT rate reduction and reducing Social Security taxes for most people. The question is whether the panoply of government policy measures will have long-term positive impacts on New Mexico children or whether government dependency is a poor replacement for jobs and economic independence.

A recent report by New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee found that “To improve the state’s wages and thus its poverty rates, New Mexico will likely need to increase educational attainment, particularly for those at or near the poverty level. ”

KRQE Channel 13 did a story recently on one man’s billboard campaign which asks a question we ALL need to be asking. Here’s a hint: people need to stop voting for the same leftist policies that have gotten us to this point. As we have discussed on our podcast Tipping Point New Mexico, New Mexico is led by people who do not want the State to do better. They are happy the way things are and are unwilling to change because high crime, poor education, our young people leaving, and numerous other problems fit their political preferences.

Check out the full story here: