Recently, I tweeted about the “evergreen nature” of the following post: “Increase in ____ spending has yet to deliver results”

It didn’t take long for another such headline, this time from the left-wing Source NM site. I’ve posted the headline below:

Is there a more evergreen New Mexico news story headline than the one in today's @ABQJournal? No surprise they changed it online. "Increase in ______ spending has yet to deliver results" @bobkkob @NMHouseGOP @NMSenate_GOP @NMSuncast @TheNewMexicoSun @1housestrauss @oak4nm pic.twitter.com/NuXsF9JHrO

— Paul Gessing (@pgessing) June 26, 2025

Of course, this is the massive spending we are talking about (below). We have pointed out the failure of Medicaid spending to improve health care outcomes before.

Why does New Mexico, rich in resources and culture, remain poor in economic freedom?

That’s the question I explore in this week’s Let People Prosper Show with Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation. Paul brings nearly two decades of insight into New Mexico’s political and economic trends, offering a sobering look at why the state is falling behind and what must change to turn it around.

New Mexico has a shrinking population, high poverty, and a growing dependency on government, despite a $61 billion sovereign wealth fund and booming oil revenues. The problem isn’t money; it’s policy.

On this week’s Tipping Point interview Paul sat down with Rio Rancho Mayor and GOP candidate for Gov. In this discussion Paul and Gregg discuss his major accomplishments as mayor and why those and other experiences in business make him qualified to be New Mexico’s next governor. Paul and Gregg also discuss some of the top economic and education policies of the Rio Grande Foundation like the gross receipts tax and school choice and his stances on those critical issues. Tune in!

New Mexico has a LONG track record of attempting to solve (or at least appearing to try to solve) problems by simply throwing money at a government program and calling it a day. It hasn’t worked. Not only hasn’t it worked, but in the area of childhood health and well-being (as with so many others) New Mexico is dead-last. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count report is just one recent example.

But, a troubling new opinion piece written by the head of a child care center based in Farmington and the Republican Senate Minority Leader attempts to portray New Mexico’s child care situation as a “success.” How so? The article cites  the fact that “infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age kids now have access” to state-funded child care programs. There is no data backing up the point aside from the sheer number of children being involved.

Not surprisingly the Gov. took to Twitter to highlight the opinion piece. This is exactly what MLG is talking about when she talks about New Mexico’s “cradle to career” plans for its citizens.

Sadly, the connection between government-funded child care programs and childhood outcomes is tenuous at best. According to the Legislative Finance Committee, “evidence linking participation in child care with long-term impacts on educational
outcomes is lacking.”

Government programs have been tried repeatedly in New Mexico and elsewhere and have had limited success in improving childhood outcomes. What is particularly frustrating is that Sen. Bill Sharer signed onto the op-ed.

What COULD help is for New Mexico to:

• Reform its economy to by adopting lower taxes, right-sizing regulations, and using other reforms to reduce overall and of course childhood poverty. 6 of the 16 Kids Count variables are poverty-related.
• Improve its education system through school choice or even the Mississippi Model (MS is now ranked 16th on education by Annie E. Casey in Kids Count). 6 of the 16 Kids Count variables are education-related.
• Focus on reforming/reducing welfare programs to encourage cohesive two-parent families (yes, even liberal Annie E. Casey includes that as a variable).

As can be seen below, while Mississippi struggles overall  (like New Mexico) it has made great strides in education while New Mexico hasn’t. New Mexico COULD and should be following Mississippi on education AND enacting free market economic policies, but we aren’t. Focusing on the supposed success of “free” child care is a cop out whether you have an “R” or “D” by your name.

The following was shared with us by a legislator on the Legislative Finance Committee. One shock is the 400% subsidy the State hands to those receiving health care through ACA (ObamaCare) marketplace health plans.

The other is that New Mexico is currently developing a subsidy program for illegal immigrants (see highlighted text). These are fungible resources meaning the State COULD use these same resources to help businesses afford health care for their workers or they could be used to address the medical provider shortage. But that’s not what they’re doing.

Recently, Albuquerque’s City Council approved a $227 million Industrial Revenue Bond (including some serious tax emptions) for a group of projects in the Sawmill area of Albuquerque. They are being undertaken by Jim Long of Heritage. Long is without a doubt one of the most successful businessmen in New Mexico.

There are numerous aspects to this effort and we’re going to unpack a few of them here because it is an interesting case study of why New Mexico and Albuquerque remain mired in mismanagement:

1. The Sawmill area is arguably the gem of the Albuquerque Metro area (thanks in part to Long and his development of Hotel Albuquerque, Hotel Chaco, and Sawmill Markets). The question needs to be asked: Does this area of town need a property tax exemption to be developed? Is it fair to give generous IRB’s to property owners (exempting 70% of property taxes) in one part of town while increasing property tax assessments in other parts of town?
2. Despite the law not being in effect yet, on a vote of 8-1 (with Councilor Dan Champine the lone opponent) Albuquerque City Council chose to follow HB 6 (passed and signed this session) which forces recipients of IRB’s to pay union-subsidizing “prevailing wages” on their projects. HB 6 was one of the worst bills passed in the 2025 session. In real terms it shifts the costs of property taxes to other property owners and hands much of the benefit to Democrat-donor trade unions.
3. All of these cross-subsidies and special-interest exemptions and benefits are a classic example of why New Mexico and Albuquerque haven’t developed like their neighbors. RGF is not a fan of economic favoritism in the form of IRB’s (especially in economically successful areas), but adding prevailing wages on top of them isn’t sensible either.

On this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss Paul’s recent article highlighting Arizona’s superior policies relative to New Mexico’s.

Matt Mitchell recently gave a talk on economic freedom in NM. Here are his slides and an interview with Bob Clark of KKOB.

Social Security could have been solvent with private accounts full of cash if Congress had followed George W. Bush-style reforms 20 years ago.

MLG wants to completely delete emails quickly after just 30 days.

Albuquerque’s Mayoral race is set with 7 candidates. Paul and Wally discuss some best and worst case scenarios.

Matthew Mitchell of the Canadian free market think tank Fraser Institute (Matt lives in Angel Fire, NM) recently made a compelling presentation on economic freedom (or the lack thereof) in New Mexico at a Rio Grande Foundation sponsored event in Albuquerque. You can find Matt’s highly informative slides here. 

While we don’t have a recording of his presentation, earlier that morning Matt was interviewed by Bob Clark. You can check out their conversation below. You can find the full report Matt and RGF president Paul Gessing put together earlier this year here. 

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Albuquerque mayoral candidate Mayling Armijo. Armijo has been involved in economic development at various levels of government and has filled out the RGF mayoral candidate survey which highlights her views on economic development. Although new to electoral politics Armijo has plans to bring significant change to Albuquerque. Don’t miss this important conversation.

So many of our efforts at the Rio Grande Foundation are focused on New Mexico and its myriad problems, but Social Security is a major issue for all Americans. Alas, when America had a chance to reform the program back during the George W. Bush Administration the effort failed. American Enterprise Institute did a full report and the following chart was put together by our friends at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. 

As the chart shows, no matter the plan, if Congress had gone along with Bush’s plans to allow private Social Security accounts (meaning the money was actually invested, not spent) the rate of return would have been significantly better for recipients. Alas, the plan was killed and Americans are now facing a $28 trillion unfunded obligation for the program. Worse, no one in either political party is willing to take on the politically-difficult task of reforming the program.

Paul stopped by the No Kings rally in ABQ on Saturday. He offers a full report.

Route 66 visitors center highlights failure of government.

We have received a few candidate surveys back. They can be found at ErrorsofEnchantment.com

New Mexico (stupidly) joins California lawsuit over EV mandate repeal.

RGF “beats the heat” attending “fiesta” in Albuquerque.

New Mexico NPR/PBS stations among the most dependent on federal $$:

We talked last week about NM’s 50th ranking in Kids Count. This is what the left wing Voices for Children group had to say.

A waste of time. That would be a good way to describe the “analysis” of a group that recently traveled to Phoenix to figure out why Arizona’s largest city (Phoenix) is so much more successful than New Mexico’s (Albuquerque). While the head of the Rio Grande Foundation has indeed been to Phoenix (and other parts of Arizona) many times, he didn’t need to take a trip to Arizona State University to figure out the situation.

Here are a few of many ways in which Arizona public policies or policy outcomes make Arizona a fast-growing, successful state that leaves New Mexico in the dust:

Arizona’s top personal income tax rate is 2.5% while New Mexico’s is 5.9%. Keep more money = attract more people;

Arizona is a “right to work” state. New Mexico remains “forced unionism” for private sector workers;

While it DOES have a high sales tax rate 8.38%, Arizona does NOT have a harmful gross receipts tax like New Mexico’s which is not that much lower;

Arizona has NO state-level prevailing wage law (New Mexico does). This means that public infrastructure projects in Arizona are done at market wage rates, not artificially inflated rates;

Arizona’s labor force participation rate is significantly higher than New Mexico’s meaning fewer people on welfare programs and more people paying taxes. New Mexico’s Medicaid population is also the highest in the nation which sucks money from other taxpayers and programs.

Because it is more business friendly Arizona has 10 companies listed on the Fortune 500 index. New Mexico has few publicly traded companies headquartered in the State.  

Arizona’s crime (while rather high) is nowhere near as high as New Mexico’s;

Arizona’s K-12 system has a variety of school choice options and outperforms New Mexico’s (which is dead last);

Arizona outperforms New Mexico even while spending 45% less money per student;

Despite the New Mexico delegation looking to further expand New Mexico’s higher education footprint as a means of “revitalizing” downtown, it is noteworthy that Arizona spends approximately 1/3rd what New Mexico spends (per student). 

According to the local weather folks June 16th was the first 100 degree day of 2025. So, it only makes sense (not really) that folks behind the proposed “Heat Rule” in New Mexico (Healthy Climate New Mexico) were outdoors in the middle of the hottest day of the year for their first “Beat the Heat Fiesta.”

As usual we at the Rio Grande Foundation dropped by to check things out. We stopped by around 2:30 for the 2pm to 5pm event. It appeared that most people were “beating the heat” by staying home.

There was free swag to be had including some pointers on staying cool, some towels to dip in water and cool off, and some “liquid IV” drink. We didn’t pick up any condoms or Narcan.

The Heat Rule remains a costly potential extension of government. The deadline for public comment has been extended to July 17. Take a moment to comment today! (click the link)

As part of our work to better inform voters (in this case those in the City of Albuquerque) about the issues in this fall’s election, we are surveying candidates for mayor and city council. The survey below is from current city councilor and District 5 (on Albuquerque’s West Side) candidate Dan Lewis.  You can find out more about Dan and his campaign here. You can find a PDF of his candidate survey here.

As part of our work to better inform voters (in this case those in the City of Albuquerque) about the issues in this fall’s election, we are surveying candidates for mayor and city council. The survey below is from mayoral candidate Mayling Armijo. Armijo has primarily worked in economic development over the years. You can find out more about her and her campaign here. You can find a PDF of her candidate survey here. 

As they did all across the country this past Saturday (which was also President Trump’s birthday AND the 250th anniversary of the US Army), protesters in Albuquerque came out in droves (perhaps 3,000 or so) at Albuquerque’s Mariposa Basin Park.

Given the location an easy bike ride away from his house (and thus not requiring sitting in traffic or parking), RGF’s President Paul Gessing felt that he “needed” to check out the situation. Pictures are below. Here are some of his comments:

1. 1. 1. 1. To the extent that the protesters were actually opposed to executive or even government power, that is a good thing. I don’t remember the left being exercised by Joe Biden’s numerous usurpations of constitutional power. And, of course, MLG has also been an authoritarian on COVID and gun rights.
         2. The protests were large and—at least in ABQ—peaceful. Perhaps protesting in the suburbs draws a different crowd than Civic Plaza or near UNM?
         3. Still a few people wearing masks even outside and after more than 5 years since COVID began.
         4. Based on their signs/flags, most of the protesters seemed to fall into one of three camps: 1) Personal dislike of Trump. 2) Pro-immigration 3) Pro-trans/LGBT. I’d have LOVED to see something about federal spending or tariffs, but this was a partisan-led protest

      

      

      

      

      

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Sarah Smith, an activist in Las Cruces, New Mexico, about some of the most important issues facing her area of the State. Sarah came to prominence during the COVID as a leading opponent of MLG’s lockdowns.

Sarah is involved with Coalition of Conservatives in Action (a Las Cruces grassroots group), New Mexico Freedoms Alliance (which operates statewide), and  the National Coalition for Health Integrity.

They discuss a recent referendum attempt that was denied by politicians in Las Cruces, plans afoot to ban natural gas in Las Cruces, and broader economic and political issues in the City. Don’t miss this conversation!

Back in 2023 the Governor through her unelected Environmental Improvement Board rammed through a radical plan imposing a 43% electric vehicle mandate. As of right now and with the 43% mandate looming, New Mexico car dealers sell about 5% EV’s. Everyone admits that New Mexico will massively fail to hit 43%. No OTHER state is anywhere close to hitting 43% either. Colorado has the highest percentage of EV sales at 26.4% but that is a far cry from 43%.

So, with bipartisan votes in both houses of Congress and President Trump’s signature having recently eliminated the ability of states to follow California’s unrealistic EV mandates, it is surprising but not totally shocking that New Mexico has decided to “double down on stupid” by joining California in suing to keep its unrealistic EV mandate in place.

The suit is tactically over usage of the Congressional Review Act. It is hard to see a judge (let alone the US Supreme Court) choosing to get involved in what amounts to a squabble over parliamentary rules of Congress, but you never can tell with judges these days.

It is very “on brand” for Gov. Lujan Grisham to advocate so strongly against New Mexicans and their own needs and wants relating to vehicle preference on behalf of HER demands.

There is no question that New Mexico’s consistent “dead last” ranking in the annual Annie E. Casey Kids Count report is a serious and downright tragic situation. That’s because these awful rankings have real world consequences for our children and the future of our rapidly-aging state.

But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t laugh about aspects of the situation, especially the responses of New Mexico’s numerous left-wing activists and politicians to the ongoing failure of their policies. One might think that Michelle Lujan Grisham JUST took office given their “we’ll get ’em next year” rhetoric. Check out the Albuquerque Journal story on the results for details. We especially like the comment of the head of Voices for Children which seemed to throw water on the entire idea of the report itself:

Local governments where politicians push a big construction project absent community demand or a reasonable “game plan.”

A broken state capital outlay system that pumps out cash to local governments with few strings attached.

No master plan, no budget, and no oversight at any level of government for a massive $13 million taxpayer-funded project. All of this at a time when the State’s roads and bridges are suffering from poor conditions and inadequate maintenance.

And people wonder why New Mexico is ranked 50th and is found to offer its taxpayers a poor return on their tax dollars!

In New Mexico there are numerous ways to mark the time: green chile harvest, the State Fair, Balloon Fiesta, and the monsoons come to mind, but in recent years June has also meant the annual appearance at the very bottom in the annual Kids Count report. The annual report is put together by the Annie E. Case Foundation (a center left policy group working nationally). The results are reported (and justified) by New Mexico Voices for Children. 

Yet again, New Mexico continues to go in the OPPOSITE direction in terms of child well-being with 7 measurable points getting worse and only 4 improving.

A few things are worth noting:

1. Earlier this year MLG and her allies (including Voices) claimed that New Mexico had made dramatic improvements in child poverty. Sadly, in the real nothing of the sort has happened. As Kids Count notes 25% of New Mexico kids were in poverty in 2023 (the report’s data is based on 2023 info). In 2019 the percent of New Mexico children in poverty was…25%).
2. Funnily (in a sad way) while New Mexico student performance on math and reading dropped dramatically in the new report (thanks largely to MLG locking kids out of school during COVID), graduation rates rose. This only highlights why graduation rates are lacking in credibility.
3. 
4. It is just sad to watch Voices attempt to spin the data to make it look like the “progressive” policies in Santa Fe are either working or simply don’t go far enough. Their policies have failed. They failed last year and they failed the year before that (2023).

A reversal of course and embrace of free market economic policies combined with educational choice and accountability would be (our) better way of improving outcomes for New Mexico children, but it won’t happen under our current “leadership.”