County Secession bill introduced in New Mexico Legislature

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.