Check out this article from the Austin American-Statesman. I was quoted in the story. It looks like the movers-and-shakers in Austin are looking to get the city into the space industry game. Of course, no state has spent as much of taxpayers’ meager resources on such projects as New Mexico.

Notably, Austin is, while similar in some ways to Albuquerque, the polar opposite of Albuquerque economically. Forbes even recently named Austin America’s number one “boomtown” while Albuquerque was recently found to be in a “double-dip” recession. Texas as a whole is also doing well while New Mexico is not. Notably, Austin, a notably liberal city is located in a right to work, zero-income-tax state.

So, why would business leaders in Austin want to emulate New Mexico’s crappy economy? Beats me. Space is cool. It may be the next “big thing.” My quote from the article clearly states what Austin’s leaders might wish to do and what they might to avoid:

“There are opportunities in commercial space, but taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for a speculative investment in a competitive market.”

“New Mexico went all-in on space tourism,” Gessing said. “It was like building an airport before the Wright Brothers.”

The headline in the Albuquerque Journal story is “Rejecting Party Labels” and true enough, as is clearly visible in the following chart, New Mexico voters are rejecting party labels in growing numbers:

What was really interesting to me is that the gap between Republican and Democrat registration in supposedly liberal 18-24 year olds is 11 percent according to the poll. That compares with an astonishing 18 point advantage for Democrats among voters 65 and up. All other age demographics had a party registration gap of 15 points.

I am not a pollster and Rio Grande Foundation is not partisan, but this data caught my eye when I saw it because to say that this deviates from national trends would be an incredible understatement. Check out the chart below from the Pew Center which does polling on politics at the national level (it is from 2012, but still relevant):

The Pew chart clearly shows that Americans generally identify more Republican as they age with the so-called “Silent Generation” being even and each subsequent group identifying more strongly with Democrats. The “Millennial” generation gap nationally is an astonishing 27 points in favor of Democrats.

Is there something unusual about Sanderoff’s polling here in New Mexico that drove these results? I don’t know, but from what I can tell, New Mexico’s oldest voters are far more inclined to be Democrats than their peers in other states and young people in New Mexico are somewhat more Republican than older voters or their peers in other states. Perhaps the winds of political change are coming to the Land of Enchantment?

There is no question that New Mexico faces significant economic challenges. Our overreliance on Washington’s largesse combined with business-unfriendly tax and regulatory structures have finally caught up with us. This has led to New Mexico bleeding jobs and people to other states, particularly our economically freer neighbors.

This has led to desperation among some quarters. Democrat Sens. Tim Keller and Jacob Candelaria seem to have even proposed a special legislative session for the sole purpose of offering subsidies and incentives to the Tesla car company. The hope is to attract a proposed battery factory to the state despite no concrete indicators from Tesla as to where they wish to locate said factory or what their criterion are.

Unfortunately, these Democrat legislators are not the only ones willing to engage in bad economic policies for a short-term political benefit in the form of “jobs.” The Doña Ana County Commission recently voted 5-0 to grant an industrial revenue bond (IRB) to a Turkish wire company to encourage the company to come to Santa Teresa. While this financing mechanism is somewhat complicated as a means of giving special advantages to recipients, the basic effect of an IRB is that it exempts the recipient, for up to 30 years, from property taxes on land, buildings, the useful life of equipment purchased with bond proceeds and an exemption from applicable gross receipts taxes on the purchase of project equipment.

While we at the Rio Grande Foundation prefer fair, free, and open economic policies, the kicker is that the subsidized Turkish firm is planning to open their door across the street from the International Wire Group, an existing player in the same market. It goes without saying that an unequal playing field inevitably favors one company over another and could allow the new entrant to undercut its cross-street rival on price or use its advantage to hire workers away from the existing company.

So, the very justification for issuing these bonds to the Turkish wire company — job creation — will likely backfire as the new company uses its government-favored position to squeeze its competition. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have occurred to the Commission that their policies may backfire in this way.

Whatever the reason they have for issuing this bond, it is nevertheless illegal. According to section 4-59-15 of the New Mexico State Board of Finance review provision: “The bonds in connection with such project shall not be issued until the State Board of Finance has determined that the proposed project will not directly or substantially compete with an existing business or enterprise located within the boundaries of the county or within five miles of the proposed project.”

Approval of this subsidy package, unlike any potential deal for Tesla, would appear to be in direct violation of the state’s own laws/regulations. On those grounds alone, the Board should reject the proposed subsidies out of hand.

While we certainly understand the desire on the part of policymakers to act quickly to attract businesses to the state, policymakers need to first and foremost respect those businesses that are already here in our communities providing jobs and tax revenue for our communities and the state. The worst thing that can be done is to offer generous subsidies — at taxpayer expense — to attract competition for existing New Mexico businesses.

The term “pro-business” is often a catch-all used to describe government policies that may, unfortunately, be abused for the benefit of some businesses at the expense of other businesses and taxpayers at large. New Mexico should instead strive for free-market policies that provide reasonable taxes and regulations across the board. When that challenge is undertaken in Santa Fe, New Mexico will finally rise from the bottom of so many bad lists.

Monnheimer is a policy analyst with New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation, an independent, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.

Management of Albuquerque’s public golf courses was recently slammed in an auditors report as discussed in the Albuquerque Journal.

Based on my interpretation of the issues discussed in the report, it would appear that the problem stems from 2 things: 1) the fact that most golf course operations are privately-managed while the course itself is managed by the City; 2) poor oversight of contracts on the part of the City.

It would seem that the best solution is complete privatization of golf course management. Rather than the split system, outsource all aspects of golf course management, require a specific amount of money be returned to the City and negotiate an appropriate rate structure, and let the course management team innovate within those bounds.

This structure would mitigate against losses to the taxpayer; it would be simple to monitor, and it would likely improve conditions, especially at Ladera which has struggled in the past. Cincinnati is just one major city to have seen positive results from such a move. Rio Grande Foundation has previously covered this issue.

Conservatives should support private management because relying on the private sector is results in a better product at a lower cost.
Liberals should support it because limited taxpayer dollars should not be spent to subsidize golf courses.

According to the group Truth in Accounting, New Mexico is having serious problems getting its fiscal reports done in a timely manner. According to a new report, the State has missed the 180 day goal to release fiscal reports after year-end since 2009; with a worse record each year.
· 2009- report published 262 days after fiscal year end
· 2010- report published 258 days after fiscal year end
· 2011- report published 356 days after fiscal year end
· 2012- report published 426 days after fiscal year end
· 2013- ONLY STATE YET TO RELEASE THEIR COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

Why should citizens of New Mexico care?
· The budget cannot be made efficient without timely financial results from the prior year.
· Unfunded pensions promises are growing (from $4.2 billion in 2009 to $7.28 billion in 2012)
· Unfunded retirement health promises (from 2.21 billion in 2009 to $2.51 billion in 2012)
· Citizens cannot hold their elected officials accountable without truthful, timely information.
· Click here to view the full financial state of New Mexico

New Mexico might look to its neighbor, Utah, for advice. Utah published its 2013 financial report 115 days after the fiscal year end – making Utah the second fastest state in the country after Michigan, who released its 2013 report 82 days after fiscal year-end.
Check out your state’s timeliness by selecting “Edit Chart Criteria” below this chart, scroll down the next page to select your state, select Available Years, and Generate Chart MI and UT Reporting Timeliness: 2009-2013.

Truth in Accounting commends Michigan and Utah for enabling their citizens to make informed decisions with timely available reports. Utah is also one of our eight sunshine states, meaning they have enough assets to pay their bills.

The following letter appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook section on Monday, June 30.

Another month and another sorry set of job “growth” data for New Mexico right there on page 2. In fact, this is the most important information that appears in the Business Journal. For those of you who missed it, New Mexico is the only of nine Western states that lost jobs year-over year from April 2013 to April 2014.

Nevada led the region with 3.7 percent job growth while Texas grew by 3.2 percent. These states’ economies are quite different. Nevada boomed during the 2000s and was hammered by the recession while Texas’ economy held relatively firm during the recession and has absolutely boomed since then. Both, however, are right to work states (no forced-unionism) and lack personal income taxes at the state level.

In a recent analysis of New Mexico’s performance on a variety of “business friendly” or economic freedom rankings, New Mexico’s average ranking was 33rd while Texas’ average ranking was six and Nevada’s 18. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Oklahoma also scored consistently and substantially better than did New Mexico.

New Mexico has a unique and wonderful history, but it also has a history of anti-freedom economic policies, poverty, and dependency. Until that mentality changes in Santa Fe and the Legislature and PRC adopt policies that unleash rather than constrict markets, New Mexico’s economy will underperform, poverty will be high, and our most-educated young people will leave the state.

Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
PO Box 40336
Albuquerque, NM 87196
505-264-6090

Check out the full story along with my comments on the proceedings in Santa Fe from Capitol Report New Mexico. This is yet another unfortunate example of policymakers in New Mexico choosing to protect special interests and existing businesses at the expense of innovators and consumers alike.

It is also hard to argue with Rep. Vickie Perea’s arguments in her opinion piece. I’d love to see what Gov. Martinez and gubernatorial candidate (and current Attorney General) Gary King have to say about this issue. Statements by either candidate would give voters a clearer understanding of candidates’ inclinations on the impact of government regulations on New Mexico’s economy. I’d also love to see a Democrat legislator (or more) speak out in favor of free markets and innovation as they have spoken out in favor of a more far-fetched effort to attract Tesla to New Mexico.

The Rio Grande Foundation report on New Mexico’s shrinking workforce attracted the attention of KOB TV Channel 4 News. The story appeared last night at 6pm last night.

(Albuquerque) What happened to New Mexico’s workforce during and in the wake of the “Great Recession?” The tenor of that question might change dramatically with one look at the chart below. As clearly seen below, New Mexico’s workforce participation rate which had been on a general upward trajectory since the mid-1970s, dropped precipitously during the recent recession.

In a new policy brief (available at the following link), “The Troubling Case of New Mexico’s Disappearing Workforce,” Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing analyzes New Mexico’s workforce participation rate and how it compares to other states, explains why workforce participation is so important, and briefly outlines some ideas for New Mexico policymakers to consider to bring more of our state’s workers back into the workforce.

Last week, I traveled around New Mexico talking to members of the public and county commissioners on the issue of transferring some federal lands back to state control. But there are some, especially in Washington, who oppose ANY effort to reduce the ever-expanding federal estate. Count New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich among them.

Heinrich has co-sponsored a resolution that would add procedural restrictions to any legislative effort to sell off federal lands to reduce the deficit. Ironically, it was Heinrich and his fellow Democrats in the Senate who voted just last year to REMOVE procedural obstacles to executive branch and judicial nominees.

The Rio Grande Foundation’s efforts are not designed specifically to address the federal deficit, but you can bet that ANY effort to reduce the federal estate will be subject to such procedural restrictions. One wonders why Heinrich would oppose fellow Democrat Ray Powell’s effort to restore some BLM lands to state control in an effort to fund a new pre-k program.

It would seem that Heinrich is simply pandering with this effort, but clearly he sees any effort to reduce federal land holdings as a very bad thing politically while expanding federal control as with the recent Organ Mountains Wilderness designation to be a good thing.

HT: Myron Ebell

Another day, another attack by a liberal Democrat levied against Gov. Martinez on the economy. This time, liberal former Gov. candidate Alan Webber attacks Gov. Martinez in the Albuquerque Journal on what we can all agree on is New Mexico’s poor overall economic performance. As I’ve written before, this remains the Democrats’ best line of attack against Martinez in the 2014 election, but there are several issues.

1) The Dems offer no sound solutions. Gary King wants a higher minimum wage and laws mandating “equal pay” for women. Webber (as indicated in his article) wants “green jobs” despite repeated reports indicating that projections of “green jobs” employing massive numbers of people being overblown. Both are typical, central-planning ideas that put government in charge of picking and choosing the industries that are favored and those that should fail.

2) Government doesn’t create jobs. At the outset of his article, Webber notes the “unbelievable record Gov. Susana Martinez has of creating jobs.” Unfortunately for Webber, Gary Johnson had it best when he said, “I didn’t create a single job as Governor.” Government can set up reasonable tax rates, rules, and regulations that allow average New Mexicans to build businesses and create jobs, but by removing productive resources from the private sector economy, government mostly kills both wealth and jobs and sometimes diverts those resources to other industries whether those are actually desired or demanded by the marketplace.

3) Gov. Martinez is merely the Governor, not the queen or dictator. In other words, Martinez has controlled one branch of New Mexico’s government, the executive, for just less than four years. The Courts and Legislature, not to mention the PRC and most local bodies, have been controlled by big-government liberals for decades. New Mexico did have a good decade during the 2000s in part due to some serious income tax cuts, but it’s not like New Mexico was at the top of all the good economic lists before Martinez got elected.

Democrats, whether that means Gary King or anyone else, have a long way to go to convince New Mexicans that they have viable solutions for New Mexico’s economy.

I’m not sure what it says about New Mexico’s economy that our largest “business” is a non-profit health care provider (Presbyterian), but it is not good. Actually, it is an indicator that New Mexico lacks a developed private sector.

Celebrate Milton Friedman’s Legacy!

Click here for event registration form!

You are invited to join the Rio Grande Foundation for an evening celebrating what would have been Milton Friedman’s 102nd birthday with Timothy Sandefur, Principal Attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. Along with Friedman’s legacy, Sandefur will be discussing is new book, “The Conscience of the Constitution.”

Sandefur’s book questions whether liberty or democracy is the primary constitutional value. At a time when Americans are increasingly facing violations of their civil liberties, Timothy Sandefur’s insightful new book explains why the Declaration of Independence, with its doctrines on the primacy of liberty, the natural rights of man, and the limits on legitimate government, should serve as the guidepost for understanding the Constitution.

• When:  6:00pm to 7:30pm on Thursday, July 31, 2014.
• Where:  Room 2401 at UNM Law School which is located at 1117 Stanford Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM  87106.
• Cost:  $10 which includes light appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks as well as birthday cake to celebrate Dr. Friedman’s birthday.

Timothy Sandefur is a Principal Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation. As the lead attorney in the Foundation’s Economic Liberty Project, he works to protect businesses against abusive government regulation, and has won important victories for free enterprise in California, Oregon, Missouri, and other states.

Publications / Achievements

He is the author of three books, Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America (2006), The Right to Earn A Living: Economic Freedom And The Law (2010), and The Conscience of The Constitution: The Declaration of Independence And The Right to Liberty (2013), as well as some 45 scholarly articles on subjects ranging from eminent domain and economic liberty to copyright, evolution and creationism, slavery and the Civil War, and legal issues in Shakespeare and ancient Greek drama. His articles have appeared in National Review, The Claremont Review of Books, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Times, and Regulation among other places.

He is an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and a frequent guest on radio and television programs, including John Stossel, the Armstrong and Getty Show, the Jim Lehrer News Hour and NPR's This American Life.

Click here for event registration form!

Interesting story today from Daily Ticker via Yahoo on the fastest and slowest-growing cities in America. I’ve taken the liberty of posting the top and bottom 10 below:

Top 10 Fastest-growing

1. Midland, Texas 5.8%

2. Greeley, Colorado 4.8%

3. St. George, Utah 4.6%

4. Provo-Orem, Utah 4.6%

5. Naples-Marco Island, Florida 4.5%

6. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas 4.4%

7. Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina 4.3%

8. Laredo, Texas 4.3%

9. Palm Coast, Florida 4.3%

10. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.-Mo. 4.2%

Top 10 Slowest-Growing

1. Binghampton, New York 1.0%

2. Utica-Rome, New York 1.0%

3. Pine Bluff, Arkansas 1.3%

4. Johnstown, Pennsylvania 1.3%

5. Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey 1.4%

6. Danville, Virginia 1.4%

7. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas 1.4%

8. Kingston, New York 1.4%

9. Elmira, New York 1.5%

10. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York 1.5%

Notably, nine of the top 10 are cities in right to work states. Only Colorado is not (they have some other nifty pro-taxpayer protections). Seven of the bottom 10 cities are in forced-unionism states. Also, half of the top-10 cities are in states that both have no personal income tax and are right to work. Beaumont-Port Arthur is the only city in the bottom 10 located in such a state.

Correlation may not be causation, but eventually enough different data points should lead policymakers to wonder why states (and cities in states) that have adopted right to work and zero income tax consistently outperform their high-tax, forced-unionism peers.

Carl Graham of the Coalition for Self Government and I had a whirlwind tour of New Mexico to discuss federal lands issues in the West and New Mexico in particular. We discussed New Mexico’s economy and how it is impacted by federal lands as well as solutions like “Financial Ready” and “Transfer of Federal Lands” (TPLA) legislation.

Carl spoke at a well-attended public meeting in Albuquerque:

Carl Graham of the Coalition for Self Government in the West speaks at Rio Grande Foundation event from Paul Gessing on Vimeo.

He and I (my presentation starts at 45:20) also spoke to the New Mexico Association of Counties meeting in Deming (the Association passed a resolution supporting TPLA):

Carl Graham of Coalition for Self Government in the West & Paul Gessing of RGF speak at New Mexico Association of Counties event from Paul Gessing on Vimeo.

Rob Nikolewski of Capitol Report New Mexico covered the Albuquerque event and interviewed Graham here.

More information will certainly follow on this important issue.

Join the Rio Grande Foundation For an Evening of
Discussion and Fellowship at Liberty on the Rocks!

"Liberty on the Rocks" is a no-host happy hour discussion and information-sharing session.

We are changing locations for this event. From now on, Liberty on the Rocks will be held at Scalo Northern Italian Grill which is located in Nob Hill at 3500 Central Avenue SE in Albuquerque. A private room has been reserved for this event.

Liberty on the Rocks is usually held on the third Wednesday of the month, but due to RGF president Paul Gessing's travel plans will take place on Wednesday, June 25th from 6:00 to 7:30PM.

There is no cost for this public event, but attendees are encouraged to have dinner or drinks. Registration is not required but is much appreciated. Click here to register online … it's fast and it's free!

Come celebrate liberty with us!

The Rio Grande Foundation hosted a discussion in Albuquerque on June 17 with Carl Graham of the Coalition for Self Government in the West. Carl had an opinion piece in today’s Albuquerque Journal detailing the reasons and potential benefits were New Mexico to demand and receive lands currently owned and managed by Washington (BLM and Forest Service).

A second, equally important piece was written by my colleague on the Board of the virtual charter school, New Mexico Connections Academy, former New Mexico Sen. Mark Boitano. In his piece, Boitano outlined in detail why effective teachers are so important for improved educational results, how pay for performance can help improve the quality of teaching, and what Connections Academy is doing, within the limits of New Mexico law, to retain the best teachers.

Both initiatives have great potential to improve New Mexico economically and educationally (our federal lands can generate a far better return for schools and our education system needs to improve to build a 21st Century work force). Gov. Martinez has been supportive of both efforts (particularly the latter in approving Connections Academy over the objections of the PEC). It is time for the Legislature and the rest of New Mexico’s leaders to step up to do better.

Though many New Mexicans may not be aware of it, especially given our state’s ongoing economic struggles, New Mexico is in the midst of a boom in energy development. New Mexico has vast deposits of oil and gas that can help our state transcend its struggling economy, leading to better jobs and higher wages.

Just ask the people of North Dakota, whose oil and gas production has resulted in an unemployment rate of less than 3% and fast-food workers being hired at $15 per hour. How important is New Mexico’s energy development? Nearly one-third of all state funding to public schools, as well as to New Mexico’s higher-education institutions, comes from taxes, royalties and fees paid by oil-and-gas operations around the state.

The main threat to New Mexico reaping this huge windfall is an anti-oil and gas movement in our nation’s capital, the same one that has put the Keystone Pipeline project in limbo. Leading this charge is Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who wants hand-picked energy novice Norman Bay to lead the country’s premier energy agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). With Bay at the helm of FERC, New Mexico’s energy boom can be stopped,

FERC regulates natural-gas pricing and pipelines as well as natural-gas export terminals. New Mexico’s ability to stoke its economy through the exploration and production of clean, efficient natural gas hinges directly on decisions made by FERC.

The Commission’s current, acting chair, Cheryl LaFleur, is a seasoned veteran of the energy sector and a respected expert on energy regulation who is on record in favor of quickly processing new export terminals to sell natural gas from New Mexico and other states amid surging world demand.

The White House, however, has nominated energy novice Norman Bay to chair the commission and set the agenda on such crucial policies. Elevating the largely unknown Bay— Politico calls him a “man of mystery”—to the pivotal position of chair could have significant, negative impacts on our State’s thriving energy sector. The chair of FERC holds powerful sway over its agenda and staff in ways that average members do not.
Unfortunately, perhaps as a personal favor to a former colleague, Gov. Martinez has endorsed the appointment of Bay to the FERC although not specifically the powerful position of chair.

The Obama Administration has a dismal record on the development of America’s energy assets despite the obvious importance these strategic natural resources play to states like New Mexico. The Washington Post says, “If foot-dragging were a competitive sport, President Obama and his administration would be world champions for their performance in delaying the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.” Now the Obama White House—heavily lobbied on the issue by fringe activists—aims to do the same for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals. As it is, there are two dozen applications for new export terminals awaiting FERC approval.

The Rio Grande Foundation has previously estimated that New Mexico could see an immediate increase in economic output of $200 million and the addition of 2,000 jobs immediately if LNG exports were encouraged rather than discouraged by Washington.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an interview this week that he wants Norman Bay as Chairman of FERC, not Cheryl LaFleur. The last guy Reid picked for Chair, Ron Binz, could not get confirmed after calling natural gas “a dead end.”

An FERC chair who implements an anti-natural gas agenda—rather than serving as the neutral arbiter the FERC needs—could cut short our state’s strides in energy exploration.

To be sure, Bay’s appointment as chair over a commission on which he has never served, and has little background, makes little sense in terms of good government. Of even greater concern, though, are the troubling implications for New Mexico.

Ideally, Gov. Martinez should take a closer look at the views Mr. Bay holds as they relate to energy issues in general and LNG exports in particular. Absent a broader evaluation of Bay’s record, we hope that Martinez clarifies that her support for Bay is simply as a member of the FERC as opposed to its chair.

Paul Gessing is the President of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

Today’s Albuquerque Journal contained the latest admission (this one by Republican legislator Jimmie Hall) that New Mexico’s economy stinks. The article made a bunch of points about our state’s poor economic performance, but almost willfully refused to come to conclusions (like blaming New Mexico’s lack of economic freedom).

Enter gubernatorial candidate Gary King and his first ad which can be seen below:

The good news is that King actually mentions two specific policy reforms that he’d support (I respect politicians that actually put specific ideas on the table): raising the minimum wage and mandating “equal pay” for women. The bad news is that not only are these policy ideas bad, but they are also exactly what one would expect from a “run-of-the-mill” liberal Democrat. At very best, raising the minimum wage will do little economic harm in terms of lost jobs while giving a small group of low-wage workers a small boost, but this is hardly a policy move that will turn New Mexico’s economy around.

The “equal pay” idea is even sillier. Passing a new regulatory regime to track the pay of men and women will do nothing for the economy.

Rather than burdening New Mexico’s struggling economy with even more regulations, I’d love to see King break free from the leftist “splitting up the fixed pie” mode of economic thinking and instead put forth some ideas that expand the pie by acknowledging that the private sector drives prosperity across all income levels and gender divides. Oh, and if you want to work at Wal Mart and make $17 an hour, you don’t need a higher minimum wage, you can do that right now in North Dakota.

There was Sen. Heinrich on the pages of the Albuquerque Journal this Sunday arguing for Congress to (again) intervene in the federal government’s student loan program. The idea of The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Act is to allow students to refinance their debts down to today’s market rates.

The bill before Congress merely rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic and the sinking ship is the student loan program which seems to do more harm than good. Rather than making college more affordable, the loan program has helped drive tuition higher:

The truth is that Washington should find the quickest exit it can from any involvement in student loans. After all, if government needs to be involved at all, the states which run most of America’s universities, would be more innovative and realistic about getting students to attend college (or not) and financing it than Uncle Sam. Instead, Washington, with its ability to go into debt and print money just throws more money at the “problem,” the solution for which is negatively impacts large numbers of college loan recipients who don’t understand the importance of studying in a field with viable career prospects or the power of compounding interest.

Recently, New Mexico saw the following bad jobs news. Specifically, New Mexico is losing jobs while its neighbors are gaining jobs.

But why is New Mexico economically-weaker than its neighbors? We have repeatedly made the case that New Mexico is less economically-free and is less friendly to business. This is not a view isolated to a few reports, rather it is a consistent finding of those who report on such issues. The Rio Grande Foundation recently looked at eight separate rankings of business friendliness and economic freedom (see them below with appropriate links). They measure different things, but consistently find New Mexico to perform worse than its neighbors.

Mercatus Center (personal freedom scores were eliminated from our state rankings): New Mexico’s score: 28; regional average: 16.
Fraser Institute Economic Freedom: New Mexico’s score: 50; regional average: 12.
Forbes: Best States for Business: New Mexico’s score: 45; regional average: 15.
CNBC: Best States for Business: New Mexico’s score: 36; regional average: 17.
Chief Executive Magazine: Best States for Business: New Mexico’s score: 30; regional average: 11.
Tax Foundation: Business Tax Climate: New Mexico’s score: 38; regional average: 17.
Federation of Tax Administrators (Taxes as Percent of Personal Income): (note, since FTA ranks heavier burdens with a lower number, we have inverted the ranking so as to make the lower number “good” or more friendly to business and work and the higher number “less-so”: New Mexico’s score: 36; regional average: 16.
ALEC Rich States, Poor States: New Mexico’s score: 37, regional average: 12.

We put together the following map which illustrates the average scores on these various reports below. Clearly, New Mexico trails its neighbors when it comes to business friendliness and economic freedom.

The Rio Grande Foundation recently proposed the idea of placing all new government workers into 401K-style “defined-contribution” retirement plans as a common-sense and relatively popular free market reform for New Mexico (number 9 on the list). After all, the concept is supported by 70 percent of workers nationwide with only 22 percent opposed, according to a recent poll. See graphic below for details:

Government workers have a bit more heartburn about the issue, but are still supportive by nearly 2:1.

The bad news is that a similar transition has not been floated by Gov. Martinez or any legislator/candidate that I’m aware of. The good news is that the idea is spreading and has spread to neighboring Oklahoma which recently adopted 401k-style pensions for new government hires. See the nifty graphic below which documents the spread of such “defined contribution” plans.

As I wrote in our recent issue brief on the topic, “A defined contribution system would allow those workers to save more or less based on their own needs at particular stages in their lives. Ultimately, while labor union leaders prefer to have their members’ interests tied to government and the political system (and the unions), a shift to individually-controlled accounts undermines the one-size-fits-all mentality perpetuated by unions while also empowering workers.” The other major winners are, of course, taxpayers, who no longer face the spiraling costs associated with “defined benefit” pension plans.

According to the New York Times, it looks like the Land of Enchantment is also the land of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored vehicles provided to local law enforcement units. See article here and graphic below:

According to the story, New Mexico has an astonishing 42 of these vehicles out of the 432 that have been distributed nationwide, and, while I’m a bit fuzzy at counting the squares, it looks like that gives us more of these vehicles than any other state in the nation. As if that weren’t enough, we have nearly 10% of these military vehicles for 0.6 percent of the US population.

From a taxpayer perspective, the use of this type of material is a questionable investment (especially in rural areas). From the perspective of police interaction with the public (an issue of some relevance here in Albuquerque), the use of such war machines also can’t be helpful. Where are New Mexico’s 42 MRAP’s? I don’t know for sure. There appears to be one in Hobbs and it looks like Clovis has one, but we’d be interested to know where they all are. Drop us a line in the comments section. Please provide a news link or some evidence if possible.

At tonight’s Bernalillo County Commission meeting, commissioners will be voting to put a $1.5 million property tax hike on the ballot. As the story below indicates, if approved, the tax hike will go to pay for “open space.”

There are several reasons to vote against a tax hike including the ongoing poor economic conditions in the Albuquerque Metro area, much of which is within Bernalillo County. Our city was recently ranked 360 out of 379 on several economic indicators. I’m sure a tax hike will not help turn around our economy.

Albuquerque already has the heaviest property tax burden of any city in the State. As of 2012, the millage rate (the rate at which property is taxed) for average property owners exceeded 41. The next highest rate in New Mexico was Rio Rancho’s 35. After that, Santa Fe weighed in with a paltry 20. Albuquerque residents also bear a property tax burden that is 20 percent heavier than the next-highest New Mexico city.

Lastly, Bernalillo County already spends $1.2 million annually on open space. If adopted, will County residents actually see any additional open space or is this simply a tax hike designed to increase overall spending or cover for recent financial troubles.