The Rio Grande Foundation has finalized its legislative tracking tool called the “Freedom Index” for the 2025 legislative session. The Index is the Foundation’s effort to shine light on (and enable citizens to hold their legislators accountable) on how New Mexico legislators vote on freedom. Do they vote for lower taxes, reasonable regulations, educational choice, and constitutional liberties or do they vote for higher taxes, unnecessary regulations, the same failed education policies, and less freedom?

As is explained on the Freedom Index page on the Rio Grande Foundation’s website “We evaluate legislators by how they vote on legislation. The legislation is analyzed and scored on a scale of -8 to +8. -8 is reserved for the most liberty-depriving legislation. +8 is given for legislation considered to be among the best of advancing freedom.” Legislators are then scored based strictly on their voting record on the floor (not committee votes which are not reported publicly).

Since members of the House and Senate vote on different bills it can be difficult to compare the two.

Top performers in the House were:

202 score Randall Pettigrew (R-Hobbs)

196 score John Block (R-Alamogordo)

194 score Jonathan Henry (R-Artesia)

190 score Elaine Sena Cortez (R-Hobbs)

Top performers in the Senate were: 

62 score Jim Townsend (R-Artesia)

53 score Pat Woods (R-Broadview)

51 score Candy Ezzell (R-Roswell)

47 score Nick Paul (R-Alamogordo)

Worst Performers:

House
-214 score Andrés Romero (D-Albuquerque)

Senate
-192 score Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces)

Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies for the libertarian Cato Institute was in Albuquerque for some talks to RGF and Federalist Society. He sat down with Paul to discuss the medical provider shortage in New Mexico and broader issues in healthcare.

Michael especially takes on the issue of Medicaid which is a joint federal/state program to (supposedly) provide Medicaid for the poor and how this program’s perverse incentives drive health care costs upward, doctors out of business, and are driving America into a debt crisis. You don’t want to miss this timely conversation!

Kenneth Costello is an Adjunct Scholar on Energy Policy with the Rio Grande Foundation. He wrote the following piece for the free market Independent Institute based in California. New Mexico did not become one of the poorest states in the nation overnight. It took decades of bad policymaking, and—as we saw during the recently-completed legislative session—that poor policymaking shows no sign of turning around soon.

Check out Kenneth’s insightful piece.

At their most basic level tariffs are taxes on foreign goods brought into another country (in this case the United States). The Rio Grande Foundation supports lower taxes, not more. Thus, we are firmly opposed to these tariffs and support low/no tariffs in general.

But other countries impose high tariffs on American goods, you might say. Yes, that’s unfair, but ultimately a majority of the harm done by high tariffs is inflicted on those who pay the tax, not those who impose it.

Even if you believe that imposing tariffs is a “small price to pay” for “fair” trade, we believe that the better route would have been to negotiate reduction/elimination of tariffs across-the-board, not by imposing the tariffs and their costs first and then seeing what happens. We’d be thrilled to see tariffs reduced worldwide and here in the US. The evidence that this is Trump’s plan is simply not there.

But let’s talk about New Mexico in particular:

1. New Mexico is not a major manufacturing state. Few companies based here will benefit from the protection tariffs afford. Any manufacturing operations that DO relocate to the US to avoid tariffs aren’t likely to come to New Mexico anyway.
2. But, New Mexicans will pay the cost of higher prices for the items they buy.
3.  New Mexico is primarily an energy producing state. Trump specifically exempted foreign energy from the tariffs. To the extent that other countries either slap tariffs on American energy or look for other sources, this could profoundly impact energy politics and New Mexico. And, if a recession or economic slowdown hits this would impact the price of oil and New Mexico as well.
4. Tariffs are “regressive” meaning they are borne more heavily as a percent of income by those with lower income. As a poor state New Mexicans are going to be more impacted than most by tariffs.

But then there’s the political aspect. Americans don’t support Trump’s tariffs. If the US economy goes into a recession New Mexico is going to move even FURTHER to the left politically (if that’s possible). But certainly Deb Haaland is a threat if elected governor  with a potentially even more left-wing Legislature. It is a long way to the fall of 2026, but the party in power tends to not do well anyway in that first midterm. As a reminder, New Mexico’s statewide offices are up in 2026 as is Sen. Ben Ray Lujan and the New Mexico House. We want a strong, Trump-led economy at that point, not a Trump-caused recession.

Also, we SHOULD note that Congress is responsible for raising and lowering taxes. The president (of either party) should not be allowed to take such drastic action without congress.

Someone appears to have committed arson at NM GOP HQ.

According to a new Wallethub report, New Mexico is dead last when it comes to the Return on Investment (ROI) for taxpayers

And, another new Wallethub report places New Mexico first on “most stressed.”

The best part of what happened in the session is the death of several bad bills.

State data on Albuquerque Public Schools finds the District’s performance on education metrics wanting which broadly reflects the recent findings of NAEP.

A travel journalist on Youtube named Nick Johnson recently traveled to Albuquerque’s Warzone. He called it: “The Most Frightful Neighborhood In America.”

New Mexico’s film industry is in a “lull” but the state expects to pay out $118 million in tax credits in the current fiscal year, while $117 million was paid out last year and $73 million the year before that.

Recently data from the annual New Mexico Vistas test were released. You can find the data here. Unlike the NAEP scores which were released earlier this year this is an annual report and it breaks down results by district. This post specifically addresses Albuquerque Public Schools, the State’s largest school district.

According to the ABQ Journal report on the issue, “APS saw a 2.9% decrease in graduation growth, a 2% decline in math, a 1% drop in reading proficiency and a 13% drop in regular attendance.” Sadly, the issue seems to be significantly driven by attendance problems.

According to the article, “According to the report card, 66% of New Mexico students attended school 90% of the time or more, compared with 50% of APS students.” Only HALF of APS students attend school 90% of the time. Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein noted that “Ever since the pandemic, our whole culture thinks school is optional because obviously, and controversially, we sent the kids home.”

Of course, Bernstein ally Gov. Lujan Grisham made the decision to send our kids home for over a year. Bernstein and her union didn’t exactly push back on MLG’s lock out at the time. How do policymakers restore the cultural norm of kids attending school and at the same time improve student outcomes? When will the media call out MLG for this massive mistake and its harms? Will MLG EVER admit she made a mistake keeping kids out of school for so long? And, if you have a product that is a key to long terms success, it is free to the user, and barely 50% of those eligible take advantage of the product, what does that mean?

We believe that both the Mississippi model for teaching and improving reading and/or school choice would help a lot. But, the Legislature and Gov. are unwilling to make needed changes and unless or until New Mexico’s voters are willing to hold them accountable for our failing education system AND restore limits to future governors’ emergency powers, there is little reason to be optimistic about improving our education systems.

While the recent New Mexico legislative session passed without any MAJOR harmful tax hikes or regulations being adopted (yes, the alcohol tax increase in HB 14 and the royalty increase in SB 23 are unnecessary). But, Paid Family Leave and numerous other bills failed, meaning that the Legislature again could have been MUCH worse. But, as is usually the case these days, the Legislature failed to do anything significant to improve the economy  or education systems. They also failed to restrain executive “emergency” power. Here are a list of issues (and often associated bills) that the Legislature failed to address.

 Economy: New Mexico’s economy is too dependent on both oil and gas and the federal government. Residents of the state are also the most impoverished in the nation. Despite another massive oil and gas surplus ($3 billion) nothing of substance was done to improve the economy.

• No significant tax cuts, no elimination of the personal income tax (HB 275).
• No elimination of Social Security taxes (HB 293).
• No reform of the gross receipts tax was even introduced.
• No right to work legislation was introduced.
• No reform to New Mexico’s “prevailing wage” law was introduced (but HB 6 expanded the prevailing wage).
• No attempt to deregulation New Mexico’s economy was introduced.
• The State’s lousy workforce participation rate and how to increase it were never seriously contemplated.

Education: New Mexico’s education system remains the worst performing in the nation despite massive spending growth.

• No school choice proposals were adopted.
• No broad effort to implement Mississippi-style reading reforms was adopted and New Mexico’s commitment to improving reading was only marginally addressed. Efforts to improve reading instruction in New Mexico require buy-in from all levels of government and a robust series of reforms. New Mexico has not done this.
•  Even a constitutional amendment to reform New Mexico’s boards of regents due to a recent scandal at Western NM University failed.
• The BEST bill that got real traction relating to education was HB 65 which saw the Legislature (with zero “no” votes”) attempt to clearly give school districts the right to have 4-day school weeks. Sadly, the veto override effort for this bill did not get done in the senate.

Health Care Reform: Nothing of significance happened to improve New Mexico’s health care system or reduce medical provider shortages. No medical malpractice reform, no compacts, and no reform of Medicaid.

EV mandates: Bills (like HB 270) to end New Mexico’s unrealistic and economically-harmful EV mandates failed.

Constitutional liberties: Gun rights were unfortunately attacked again (HB 12), but nothing was done to restore free speech, gun rights, or balance in public health orders by restoring the Legislature as an equal branch of government (HB 535).

Yet again, the 2025 Legislature failed to address New Mexico’s biggest problems. This is nothing new. It is deeply unfortunate for the Legislature to spend 60 days doing nothing significant to make New Mexico a better, more attractive place to live.

On this week’s Tipping Point interview Paul sits down with Tego Venturi, a realtor in Albuquerque. He recently won realtor of the year from the National Association of Realtors. Tego and Paul discuss the local housing market and current conditions in the metro area and then move on to talk about housing legislation and whether the bills being passed (or considered in Santa Fe) would address the housing “crisis.” Is the Legislature moving in the right direction or do they need to consider other approaches to addressing housing in New Mexico? Paul and Tego may not agree 100% but this is an informational conversation about an important part of New Mexico’s economy.

This COULD be a mammoth post since there were a large number of incredibly bad ideas put forth in the 2025 legislative session that were just awful. We’ll limit this to JUST the worst-of-the-worst bills that had momentum in the session. That COULD be support from the Gov. or it could be a floor vote in one or another house.

HB 11: By whatever name you give it these paid leave proposals were both economically harmful AND lacking in a full financial accounting for the liabilities necessary to make the program viable;

SB 4: While it didn’t get very far, Net Zero was specifically called out by the Gov. in her State of the State address. This bill would single-handedly destroy New Mexico’s economy were it to every pass;

SB 85: This bill which would have negatively impacted the ability of non-profits like RGF to engage in the political process flew through the Senate (unanimously) only to die in the House;

HB 318: This bill was a blatant attempt to bankrupt gun stores by opening them up to a raft of “frivolous” litigation. Of course, such a concept could be applied to OTHER industries as well.

HB 548: This bill would have imposed an unnecessary new tax on oil production in New Mexico. It was ultimately folded in (and amended out) of HB 14 which DID pass;

HB 339: Bill would have created new regulations relating to renters and homebuyers against supposed discrimination in public accommodation and housing;

SB 20: Bill would increase taxes on on e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches (like Zyn), and other nicotine delivery systems by 40% (which happen to be healthier alternatives). Taxes would not have been raised on traditional cigarettes and cigars.

With billions of dollars in annual surpluses and $61 billion locked up in sovereign wealth funds, New Mexico’s political leaders should be remaking the State’s economy and using their prodigious assets (financial and natural) to bring diversity and prosperity to the State. Sadly, New Mexico remains stagnant failed by poor governance.

According to the latest Wallethub report New Mexico has the very worst ROI (Return on Investment) from the taxes its citizens pay in taxes. The BEST ROI’s are New Hampshire, Florida, and South Dakota. Hawaii, Alaska, and California have the worst ROI’s after New Mexico.

Check out New Mexico’s position in the upper right quadrant of this chart. While it claims New Mexico has “low” taxes per capita, oil and gas taxes are not included which makes New Mexicans’ tax burdens look artificially lower than other states.

On this week’s Tipping Point NM conversation Paul and Wally discuss three timely events:

• The end of the 2025 60-day legislative session;
• The Lobos success and subsequent defeat
• The shooting in Las Cruces which (again) involved young people, even teenagers shooting and killing each other.

Much of this episode is dedicated to going through the bills that passed both houses this session. Unfortunately, they are almost universally bad although ONE good bill not only passed both houses, but almost overcame an MLG veto.

Finally, Paul had a chance to testify as an expert witness on Sen. Jay Block’s “GATO” bill on rooting out wasteful government spending (SB 484).

You don’t want to miss this detailed recap of some of the bills that will likely become new laws in New Mexico.

If you talk to anyone in Santa Fe, the Legislature is an absolute mess. Republicans aren’t happy, most Democrats aren’t happy, and the recent 60-day session failed to address in any serious way NUMEROUS important issues facing our State. We recognize that the “sausage” making process is not pretty, but here’s just a BIT of the story of HB 14 (which became the tax bill) this session. You can check out the whole legislative history here.

The issue begins with the budgets proposed by the Legislature and Gov. They included NO room for tax cuts.

The bill began as an expansion of New Mexico’s earned income tax credit. We’re NOT big fans of this because it is both “refundable” meaning it results in payments made to those earning little to nothing, but it also does nothing to reduce tax burdens for ALL taxpayers (as expanding the standard deduction or zero tax bracket would).

THEN, an oil and gas tax (HB 548) was added to HB 14 (the tax hike was meant to “pay for” the tax credit portion and passed on March 15. RGF rated that bill “-6” and it passed with only Democrats in support.

Then, a number of other tax credits were added into the bill AND a small alcohol tax was added as well, but on the Senate floor the tax hike on oil and gas was pulled out. So, RGF rated the bill “+2” since we STILL don’t like the “refundable” credits or the original, small alcohol tax hike.

But, the House and Senate now disagreed. And, while RGF would have been perfectly happy to let the bill die it was amended again in a “conference” behind closed doors. Now, we are back to a bill that has the tax credit AND a more substantial (20% increase) in alcohol taxes. This bill was passed by both houses as “conference report” in the legislative language. We are trying to find legislative votes for those but they are currently not published on the Legislature’s website.

The sausage making process would be bad enough if the ultimate product were a good one. Sadly, it is not. While Democrats continue to keep legislative majorities with little accountability and continued awful policies, Republicans should follow Grover Norquist’s lead and oppose on principle any and all tax hikes like those adopted in HB 14.

UPDATE: We have received word from Legislative Council Services that the concurrences were unanimous in both houses.

*HB 12: Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Changes – Expands New Mexico’s “red flag” law to allow expanded taking of guns absent due process.

HB 14: Earned Income Tax Credit – Raises taxes on alcohol sales by 20%. Provides “refundable” (meaning it is spending) tax credit for low income New Mexicans.

HB 6: IRB Project Minimum Wage – Requires companies hired for projects funded by Municipal and County Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) to adhere to New Mexico’s prevailing wage law for public works projects.

HB 91: Public Utility Rate Structure – Allows public utilities in the state to implement rate structures intended to reduce utility costs for low-income customers.

HB 69: Loan Forgiveness Multiplier Act – Expands access to the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program within New Mexico, which forgives student loans for individuals who work full-time in public service in federal, state, tribal, or local government for 10 years.

HB 71: Early Childhood Ed & Care Fund Transfers – Further expands annual distribution from the Early Childhood Trust Fund to fund childcare assistance, pre-K programs, and maternal health initiatives.

*SB 1: Behavioral Health Trust Fund – Creates a billion dollar trust fund for behavioral healthcare initiatives across the state.

HB 586 – Creates a process that allows the secretary of the Health Care Authority (HCA) to review proposed transactions (e.g., acquisitions, mergers) that materially change the control of a New Mexico healthcare entity.

SB 267: Housing Application Fees – Increases regulations on housing rental. Caps application and late fees and requiring more notice for increasing fees.

SB 23: Oil & Gas Royalty Rate Changes – Tax increase on oil and gas on state lands.

SB 48: Community Benefit Fund – Uses tax dollars to provide grants to local communities for so-called clean energy projects.

HB 128: Creates the Local Solar Access Fund within the New Mexico Finance Authority to provide grants for solar energy systems to eligible entities,

HB 64: Expand Post-Secondary Tuition Eligibility – provides in-state tuition and access to financial aid to students, regardless of immigration status, who attended high school in New Mexico for at least one year and either graduated from a New Mexico high school or received a high school equivalency.

HB 450: Capital Outlay bill which includes

$10 million for ANOTHER abortion clinic, $10 million for construction of a film school at CNM to support the already heavily-subsidized film industry; $4 million for runway and infrastructure improvements at the failing (taxpayer-funded) Spaceport; $1.5 million for “alternative fuel/charging stations” for the new EV school bus fleet.

All of these votes are rated at our Freedom Index which tracks votes and bills in Santa Fe. Did we miss anything? If so, send us a note: info@riograndefoundation.org

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Matthew Mitchell. Matt is Senior Fellow in the Centre for Human Freedom at the Canadian Fraser Institute (a free market think tank). But Matthew WAS with the Rio Grande Foundation many years ago. He is a native New Mexican living in Angel Fire.

More importantly, he and Paul have co-authored a new report “Economic Freedom in the Land of Enchantment” which Paul considers the most important policy study the Foundation has ever undertaken. The report has loads of useful information but specifically finds that New Mexico is the ONLY state in the nation to lose economic freedom since 1981.

Today in the Senate Rules Committee RGF’s president (seated on the right side of the photo) had an opportunity to provide expert testimony on Sen. Block’s legislation SB 484 which would create an independent Inspector General overseeing all aspects of New Mexico government spending. The bill is modeled loosely on Elon Musk’s federal DOGE efforts.

Sadly, the bill did not get a hearing until the 2nd-to-last-day of session and it was tabled, but it should be a critical component of New Mexico’s efforts to make government more accountable.

Democrats vote against Transparency

Today, Senator @ElectJayCBlock presented SB 484, the Government Accountability to Taxpayer Act. Its purpose would be to identify and remove waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars at the state government level.

The bill was tabled in… pic.twitter.com/4gtb9qquRG

— New Mexico Senate Republicans (@NMSenate_GOP) March 21, 2025

New Mexico’s capital outlay process is widely recognized to be an absolute mess and this year is no exception. HB 450 is the bill. While New Mexico suffers from having the worst roads in the nation, this legislation does nothing of substance to improve the condition of those roads. It is more of the status quo. And it includes several spending items that simply should not be government priorities:

$10 million for ANOTHER abortion clinic (this one in northern New Mexico). While RGF is not actively involved in the abortion issue it strongly holds that taxpayer dollars should NOT be used to build abortion clinics or “donated” to Planned Parenthood;

$10 million for construction of a film school at CNM to support the already heavily-subsidized film industry;

$4 million for runway and infrastructure improvements at the failing (taxpayer-funded) Spaceport;

$1.5 million for “alternative fuel/charging stations” for the new EV school bus fleet.

An endless list of projects with zero prioritization and zero study of actual need or broader impact (and no reforms making that happen).

We have previously written about HB 14 “A Mediocre Bill Goes Bad” which discussed the “earned income tax credit” bill having a tax hike on oil and gas piled onto it. That was BEFORE the bill passed the House. We also have discussed the seeming “death” of taxes on alcohol taxes and the lack of a “tax bill” for the 2025 session.

Now, HB 14 has become the legislative vehicle for the “tax bill” and in addition to the tax credit and oil/gas tax hike the bill has become a smorgasbord of policies and handouts for specific industries and areas of the state. You can find the entire list here with the exception of two components of HB 14. The bill remains rated -6 in RGF’s Freedom Index because it is absurd to raise ANY taxes at a time of multi-billion dollar surpluses (thanks largely to oil and gas revenues).

Oil tax increase;

A refundable (meaning you can get a check even if you pay no taxes) tax credit for low income people;

Tax hike on alcoholic beverages;

A volunteer emergency medical services, firefighter, and search and rescue income tax credit (fine);

Local journalist employment income tax credit/corporate income tax credit and printer income/corporate tax credits;

Foster parent/guardian tax credit;

Quantum facility income/corporate tax credit;

Extends for two years (from 2028 to 2030) a tax credit on health care providers;

Creates UNM School of Medicine fund and allocates gross receipts tax revenue to it.

With the defeat of HB 11 and its tax hikes and other numerous bad policies over the weekend New Mexico businesses let out a collective sigh of relief. But, one set of businesses (gun stores) are squarely in the “crosshairs” of New Mexico’s “progressive” legislators. What am I talking about? SB318 just passed 21 to 18. The bill is rated “-8” (the worst rating possible) on the Foundation’s Freedom Index.

The bill is a blatant attempt to use litigation to attack gun stores. If passed, this bill could put every gun store in New Mexico out of business while providing a treasure trove for New Mexico’s rapacious trial attorneys. The bill accomplishes this by amending New Mexico’s Unfair Trade Practices Act to make it easier to sue a gun store than any other type of business and imposing harsher penalties on gun stores than any other type of business.

Further, the bill states: “proof of monetary damage, loss of profits or intent to deceive or take unfair advantage of any person is not required” to sue a gun store or manufacturer. Activist groups who hate the Second-Amendment would be given free rein to sue New Mexico gun stores until the stores are forced to close. No other state in the country targets gun stores in this extreme manner.

If other businesses, especially those that are unpopular with the political left, think that they can’t or won’t be attacked in a similar way. This legislation is a dangerous to everyone.

• SB318 expands the definition of unconscionable trade practice to include “goods or services offered for sale by an online marketplace whether directly or by a third-party seller”
• Monetary awards jumped from $300 to $30,000 per incident (holy inflation, batman!)
• Makes the filing of a class action suit easier by removing language requiring mediation
• At many points, firearms are tied explicitly to “An online marketplace, seller or third-party seller”, but at others, the “firearms” caveat is left out. This ambiguity could be exploited – at $30,000 per incident + attorneys fees – to target online sales of items that the attorney general dislikes or deems unconscionable.

The bill now heads to the House Side. We expect it will stop in the House Judiciary Committee first, followed by a floor vote if it passes that committee. Here are the House Judiciary Committee’s contacts:

House Judiciary Committee

Christine Chandler – (D) christine.chandler@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4411
Andrea Romero – (D) andrea@andrearomero.com 505-986-4243
Javier Martínez – (D) javier.martinez@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4782
Matthew McQueen – (D) matthew.mcqueen@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4423
Andrea Reeb – (R) Andrea.Reeb@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4215
Reena Szczepanski – (D) reena.szczepanski@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4777
Michelle Paulene Abeyta – (D) michelle.abeyta@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4254
Nicole Chavez – (R) nicole.chavez@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4214
William A. Hall II – (R) bill.hall@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4336
Dayan Hochman-Vigil – (D) dayan.hochman-vigil@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4777
Alan T. Martinez – (R) Alan.Martinez@nmlegis.gov 505-986-4758

HB 215 is yet another in a long line of bad bills relating to housing policy in New Mexico’s 2025 legislative session. The bill demands property owners not use AI in collecting, analyzing, and training an algorithm/AI on historical or contemporaneous prices, supply levels, or lease or rental contract termination and renewal dates of dwelling units from two or more rental property owners in order to recommend rent prices or lease renewal terms.

In other words, no using the best technology available to set rent prices and terms. So, instead this bill requires the use of hunches, dartboards, informal surveys, and less scientific approaches. Why? Who knows? It’s just another ridiculous way for politicians to intervene in the housing market without actually doing anything to increase the housing supply in New Mexico.

It would seem that explicitly prohibiting the use of the latest technology (AI) for something as basic as helping determine the price of rental tool for price discovery int the rental market might make entrepreneurs and businesses even less likely to move their AI-oriented businesses to New Mexico. Does New Mexico REALLY need to double down on anti-technology approaches to policymaking especially in the area of housing, which the state needs to build more of?

The bill is currently awaiting action on the House floor. It is rated “-4” in our Freedom Index.

Let’s be honest: the Democrats who control Santa Fe have Zero interest in growing New Mexico’s economy. They DO wish to penalize the oil and gas industry by raising taxes on them, however. Enter HB 14 which recently passed the New Mexico House.

In it’s original form HB 14 was questionable. It was an increase in the generosity of New Mexico’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit. In its original (and final) forms, while the bill would have reduced tax for many low-income New Mexicans, it would also be “refundable” meaning it is now additional spending. The bill would create (even bigger) payments to those with incomes too low to pay taxes under New Mexico law. As originally designed it was a “-2” in our Freedom Index. RGF strongly supports tax cuts for ALL New Mexicans that pay taxes, but we are NOT fans of creating additional spending programs tied to federal welfare programs.

As if that were not bad enough, Democrats added new taxes on oil and gas (originally contained in HB 548) to the bill. Now, the proposal is a “double whammy” with tax hikes on oil and gas AND the new, “refundable” credit in the bill. RGF has made its score even more negative with a “-6” rating.

Raising taxes on New Mexico’s most important industry is inexcusable at a time of record surpluses and when the state is sitting on massive piles of cash. Creating additional spending program swamps the benefit from limited tax relief contained in the bill. The bill will soon be heard in the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee.

If you were to summarize the work of the Rio Grande Foundation in one basic concept, that concept would be “Economic Freedom.” Economic Freedom is simply the ability to engage in voluntary economic transactions without government intervening in the form of taxes, subsidies, regulations, minimum wages, and other unnecessary interventions.

For decades the Fraser Institute has published “Economic Freedom of the World” and “Economic Freedom of North America” reports which show that nations, states, and provinces that embrace economic freedom are faster growing economically and population-wise. They also have cleaner environments, less poverty, greater gender equality, and numerous other positive outcomes.

As a new (first of its kind) joint Rio Grande Foundation/Fraser Institute report finds, New Mexico, unique among US states, has seen a decline in overall economic freedom since 1981. As the following charts from the report highlight New Mexico’s lack of economic freedom has had additional, negative impacts on the State in terms of economic/population growth.