Tesla and left/right agreement on corporate welfare/economic development

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you are probably aware that New Mexico is one of four finalists for a Tesla battery factory that, if built, would be the largest battery factory on the planet. This has obviously generated a great deal of attention and has generated some interesting discussion among liberals and conservatives alike over how far New Mexico should go to bring this plant to our state.

For starters, New Mexico Senator Cisco McSorley led a group of Democrats in signing an “open letter” cautioning against being over-generous with incentives. I noted in an email correspondence with the Senator that we had some significant agreement which landed us on Scott Stiegler’s show on 770 KKOB last night (podcast coming soon), see photo below. The Senator and I spent two hours largely agreeing on the specific issue of Tesla incentives although I was critical of the current tax and fiscal climate in New Mexico and the lack of action on a Right to Work law.

Also worth checking out is this article from the Santa Fe Reporter which includes quotes from a variety of sources on the left, right, and center on Tesla.

I also appeared on a radio show panel discussion on KSFR in Santa Fe during which the issues surrounding Tesla’s potential investment in Albuquerque were discussed. Audio here.