In the wake of the Republican takeover of the New Mexico House, the talk has begun over whether or not the Legislature will seriously consider adopting a Right to Work law.
Our friends at the Heartland Institute have some excellent research and information on right to work and its potential impact on New Mexico (including research from RGF).
Lastly, I had a letter to the editor in the Albuquerque Journal’s Business section on Monday which may have been missed amid all the election activity:
Letters to the Editor
Albuquerque Business JournalIn his column on right to work laws, Marshall Martin concludes that “there is little question having right to work may signify that a state is business friendly, one cannot be certain that having right to work is the deciding factor…”
That is a true enough statement. In the real world, “scientific” studies of economic systems don’t work. “Proof” that right to work is indeed good for the economy is as elusive as is “proof” that any law or system works.
What we do know is that eight out of 10 of the fastest growing states in 2013 were right to work. We also know that between 1977 and 2008, right to work states produced 44.5% more jobs and saw per-capita personal incomes grow 10% faster than states that do not have such laws in place.
Of course, right to work is not only an economic issue. It is a freedom issue. Workers shouldn’t have to join unions or pay union dues if they don’t want to.
It is true that no single economic policy change made by New Mexico’s Legislature is our ticket to prosperity, but a right to work law – which unlike most other “economic development” schemes won’t cost taxpayers a dime – is a good place to start.
So, the Legislature, whatever its partisan makeup, must embrace a variety of pro-market reforms if New Mexico’s economy is to be turned around, but right to work, a policy which according to Gallup is supported by 65% of Democrats nationally, is a great starting point.
Your letter wasn’t missed because of the election activity. It was missed because nobody reads the Business Outlook anymore. If you want to make your thoughts known, ( and reverberate in the business community for a week) you’re better off calling the folks at Biz First ( Like McKee, McClure, Helgesen etc. have done). These days Biz First is driving the conversation.
Paul, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all you do. I know you must, at times, feel you are the only conservative voice out there. But you have been unrelenting in getting the message out. No one has been as determined as you. So in some part Take a. BOW. The nM House didn’t turn Republican for the first time since Ike was president. It did so because of guys like you kicking ass and taking names.
Wow, I really appreciate it Tom. You may see that quote come back to you in a fundraising letter! Progress isn’t easy in this state, but I really believe that if we get government’s boot off our necks, New Mexico can be a truly great place!
Since New Mexico is dominated by public employee unions, I’m wondering if a right to work bill would have a better chance if it exempted government employees. This could help attract private business without picking a Wisconsin-style fight.
Screw the public employee unions. It’s time to punish them – the teachers’ unions alone are a huge problem in this state and they poured millions in for lies masquerading as campaign advertisements. We need to follow the model of Kasich and Brown and hamstring these bloodsuckers now. We need to push for RTW, vouchers, and more charter schools.