Supporting business-friendly policies

As I’ve written in this space before, the Governor’s “Business-Friendly Task Force” recommendations were spot-on. I shared this view and elaborated upon it in the Albuquerque Journal’s business section last week. My comments can be found below:

Issues of economic development are all the rage these days in New Mexico and we are glad to see the discussion. The latest addition to the discussion comes from the Small Business-Friendly Task Force, the recommendations of which were written about in this paper.

While regulations are not always well-understood and are often difficult to compare across state lines, the fact is that collectively they add tremendously to the costs of doing business in New Mexico and make our state less competitive with our neighbors.

All of the Task force’s recommendations should be considered for adoption by policymakers, but the most urgent and economically-impactful include returning to a more cost-effective “prevailing wage” law and elimination of New Mexico’s state-level carbon cap by becoming an observer instead of an active participant by capping carbon emissions within the state. The prevailing wage law drives up the cost of schools and roads while the carbon cap makes New Mexico less economically-competitive with no measurable environmental impact.

New Mexico has always been a poor state in large part because it is a tough place to do business. Tackling even a few of the most costly, unnecessary rules and regulations outlined in the Business-Friendly Task Force will go a long way towards creating jobs and spurring economic growth in the Land of Enchantment.