1. You can bet that AG Raul Torrez is going to attempt to find a way to argue that “the earliest date permissible” is May 20.
2. The order was issued summarily, without explanation meaning that the legal arguments backing their decision were not outlined. But, it would seem that the law’s effective date (which won’t happen for another month) is critical.

The point is that this legal saga is by no means over. Even though these facilities employ 1,000 New Mexicans and have significant implications for local/state economies this is such a hot-button issue for Democrats that it is unlikely the AG and other Democrats will simply give up. Keep an eye out come May 20. More details from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

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But the current Assessor Damian Lara seems to be trying and he’s not shy about using taxpayer dollars to raise his profile. See the Albuquerque Journal (April 16, 2026) edition below. Along with Lara’s smiling face he touts various property tax exemptions that you may be eligible for. In some billboards and other advertisements around town he always has his photo prominently displayed. Some of them make it seem (they allude, but don’t necessarily state) that Lara is the one responsible for these tax breaks (the Legislature is the one responsible). It may not be illegal for elected officials to display their face and name prominently on taxpayer-funded information, but it is definitely questionable. We are working to find out how much and from what pool of money he has accessed funds for these advertisements.

Even notoriously corrupt former Gov. Bill Richardson had the decency NOT to include his picture on those (GRIP) Governor Richardson Investment Project) road signs back in his day. 

Lara has certainly not been shy about advancing his policy agenda. He just developed a new policy forcing certain owners of AirBnB’s to pay higher taxes.  He’s also imposed higher tax rates on vacant commercial properties as a stick to push for the owner to sell or occupy the property.

You can go to the Assessor’s website which includes an AI chatbot with Lara offering to answer questions. The website includes a link to “Click to see the Assessor’s tax savings programs” which as noted above would lead many readers to believe that HE is the one providing the tax breaks.

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Find Jacob’s campaign website here: https://www.smithfornm.com/

You can find his Twitter account here: @GovernToChange

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On the flip side, New Mexico lags its neighbors by quite a bit in the rankings. Arizona is 5th, Utah 1, Colorado 29, Oklahoma 8th, and Texas is 13th. New Mexico lags behind at 35th. 

Finally, the following chart which was produced by RGF. Since a #1 ranking is better than 50th, it is better to be lower than higher on the chart below. New Mexico’s overall ranking has been rather stagnant in the 30s over the years.

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Well, according to USA Today, the company is still planning to launch this year. (we have our doubts, but only time will tell). According to the article:

Virgin Galactic still expects to resume its space tourism operations by the end of 2026 as it looks to begin ground testing for its new spaceplane in April.

The commercial suborbital spaceflight company founded by billionaire Richard Branson hasn’t conducted a mission taking civilians to the edge of space in nearly two years. But in a recent earnings call, company leaders indicated that plans remain on track to resume those operations later this year now that its new suborbital spaceplane is in the final stages of assembly in Phoenix, Arizona.

Up next? testing from the ground before transitioning to the flight test phase in New Mexico.

Will the company really be able to go from ground testing to flight test and ultimately manned launches within the span of 8 months? They have certainly not hit ambitious targets like this one over the years. Time will tell, but this is one of MANY examples where New Mexico politicians have chased some BIG economic development dream by throwing tax dollars at it rather than making necessary reforms to make New Mexico a more attractive place to do business. The Spaceport and so many other big-spending policies/projects have either failed completely or had at best limited success.

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A new report finds that New Mexico is a disaster for families.

UNM offering a class on the fashion of singer “Bad Bunny.”

Paul and Wally take a “deep dive” look at 10 realities on taxes.

New Mexico ranked 4th heaviest in a Wallethub Tax burden report.

The Mayor of Albuquerque says his proposed budget is being cut. Here are further details along with comments from Councilor Dan Lewis.

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So, the question is: What is New Mexico planning to do and how much is it going to cost? After all, far left Democrat Sen. Bill Soules has been pushing for high speed rail from Denver to Mexico (crossing NM North to South). This despite the fact that New Mexico’s current passenger rail system (the Railrunner) has seen ridership collapse and emits more CO2 than driving a car.

The good news is that New Mexico has no plans to join Colorado’s passenger rail plans. Also, the Rail Runner is not being considered for expansion though a Las Cruces/El Paso passenger line is at least discussed. That would certainly not be cheap but it is a long way from serious planning.

Perhaps more exciting and interesting is the plans for freight rail. Currently plans for (separate) rail spurs to San Juan and Lea counties are being considered as well as for the Santa Teresa border crossing. Those are all reasonable ways to build New Mexico’s transportation network. A spur to Spaceport America seems a bit wild considering the lack of action at that facility from the largest tenant Virgin Galactic.

Check out the full story here:

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But first we have to define what state spending actually means and it isn’t JUST the FY 2027 General Fund budget of $11.1 billion which has grown by 81% under the current Gov. However, with the oil and gas driven growth of New Mexico’s permanent funds and continued reliance on federal spending, New Mexico’s total budget is MUCH bigger than just the general fund.

How big? According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), in FY 2019 MLG’s first budget was a robust $19.5 billion. That already large number has grown to $29.7 billion under MLG’s FY 2025 budget. In other words, New Mexico’s total spending has grown 52% under Lujan Grisham (excluding the last two fiscal years). See below

How’s New Mexico’s population doing? In 2019 using simple google searches it was 2,096,829. As of 2025 that number had grown to 2,136,838. That’s total growth of just 2.48%. Needless to say, New Mexico’s budget has grown massively under the current administration fueled by oil and gas revenues. This number will likely continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead driven partially by state expenditures from the permanent funds for pre-K and state-funded “free” childcare.

You can see the chart along with source data on both below:

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1. Tax cuts generally do NOT pay for themselves. But, some tax cuts like reducing/eliminating the capital gains and corporate income tax ARE able to boost overall economic growth enough to repay a significant portion of the cut.
2. There is no evidence “starve the beast” works.
3. The rich in the US pay much MORE than their “fair” share.
4. Correct, loopholes and deductions eliminated much of the “bite” of the top income tax of years’ past. Worse, they were economically inefficient.
5. European middle and lower classes pay much higher taxes than Americans of similar incomes.
6. Spending and especially spending on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid drive US budget deficits. 
7. NO, “taxing the rich” cannot balance the budget. Reforming so-called “entitlements” as seen in #6 is the only surefire way to balance the budget.
8. This one is somewhat contentious, but if you understand that the US tax code is already so “progressive” as to collect disproportionate revenues from “the rich” the TCJA contained many tax cuts for those at lower income levels. 
9. Correct, the tax code prior to 1980 was inefficient and anti-growth.
10. Currently, US corporate taxes are in line with international averages. In recent years they have been higher than in other countries.
11. 

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The methodology involves taking property tax, income, and excise/sales tax burdens and measuring them a percentage of personal income. You can find the information for yourself here. For years the Rio Grande Foundation has worked to reduce New Mexico’s tax burdens, but Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the “progressive” Legislature have preferred to spend the money or sock it away for future spending instead.

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