NM politicians plead poverty on road funding
As we have discussed frequently at the Rio Grande Foundation recently New Mexico’s roads have deteriorated significantly in recent years despite the State being in the midst of an oil and gas boom that has generated massive revenues.
The Albuquerque Journal this morning contains an article in which legislators and others involved in road maintenance and construction throughout New Mexico complain about an “impending revenue crunch” thanks to more efficient vehicles and the fact that gas taxes haven’t been raised in several years. In the article Democrat Sen. Moe Maestas even advocated for raising the gas tax.
There is no need to raise gas taxes to improve our roads. In fact, there are numerous ways to improve our roads with the money available.
- Levy a fee on EV’s. Yes, this is technically a tax, but EV drivers don’t pay road taxes even though EV’s do more damage to roads than traditional gas powered vehicles do (due to their weight). Bills have been introduced in the Legislature by Democrats but haven’t become law.
- Direct a portion of capital outlay dollars to roads. This should be done on a one-time basis with New Mexico’s $7 billion in unspent capital outlay, but also on an outgoing basis as anywhere from 25% to 50% of capital outlay should be earmarked to roads. Check out the following AI discussion of why New Mexico doesn’t direct capital outlay dollars to roads.
- Eliminate the State’s “prevailing wage” law which artificially inflates the cost of road projects.
- Dedicate $$ from the general fund or even the State’s permanent funds which total $64 billion. New Mexico politicians have set up dedicated funds for all manner of spending projects (most recently $2 billion for Medicaid in 2025). It may be time to set up a permanent fund for a core function of government.