Roads, roads, roads! The Santa Fe New Mexican hits the issue hard

The Santa Fe New Mexican had a series of articles on roads over the weekend. There was some new information and a lot of info that we already know. Here’s a quick rundown:

• New Mexico’s percentage of “acceptable” roads is the third worst among US states (only Rhode Island and Hawaii are worse). 
• The estimated cost of getting our roads into shape is $5.6 billion. You can find out how much is needed by region here.
• The New Mexican discussed this topic with legislators of both parties and nearly everyone agrees New Mexico’s roads are bad. House Tax Committee Chair Derrick Lente says they are good.
• Most Democrats in the Legislature WANT to raise the gas tax to pay for roads, but are afraid of the political consequences of doing that. The Gov. plans to support a bill to let the Transportation Department bond $1.5 billion for projects. This would improve the roads by adding more debt .

The Rio Grande Foundation has outlined a few ways which the Legislature COULD work to improve the roads.

• Free up some of the unspent $7.2 billion in unspent capital outlay money that is typically used for “pork” projects for roads.
• Make electric vehicle owners pay a fee for road maintenance (they currently do not).
• Repeal New Mexico’s “mini” Davis-Bacon law that allows unions rather than market forces to set construction wages.
• Tax gas “at the rack” to capture gas taxes on tribal lands (they currently do not remit state gas tax).

Like so many of New Mexico’s issues these run up against (in order) the interests of: legislators themselves, environmental groups, unions, and tribes, each of which are core Democrat interest groups. Nonetheless, the condition of our roads is a real drag on New Mexico’s economy (costing motorists $2,074 annually, for vehicle maintenance, congestion and safety costs). This is why they don’t get done and are unlikely to be done unless or until the political winds shift and voters realize what is happening and vote accordingly.