It didn’t garner much media coverage here in New Mexico, but last week, the American Legislative Exchange Council issued its annual report “Rich States, Poor States.” The analysis “ranks the 2015 economic outlook of states using 15 equally weighted policy variables, including various tax rates, regulatory burdens and labor policies.”
How did New Mexico fare? Not great. The state ranked 34th, receiving the worst demerits for its sales-tax (GRT, that is) burden, number of government employees, and liability system.
Also hobbling the Land of Enchantment was its lack of right-to-work (RTW) law. (Every state at the bottom was not a RTW state, while every state at the top was.)
Notably, New Mexico neighbors Utah and Arizona ranked among the list’s best prospects. Maybe we could learn something from them?
Federal spending must be slashed. That will not bode well for New Mexico. The GRT is really a burden. The state really needs to consider what is important to spend TAX money on. The Rail Runner and space port are losers and needs to be cut from the budget now. Film subsidies need to be done away with. Film makers come to New Mexico for the location and environment, not because there is a tax break. Our biggest problem to growth is water. We don’t have any and the quality is getting worse. Perhaps a state that is mostly desert shouldn’t worry about growth too much. Perhaps quality is better. That is why I’m here.