Evan many conservative thought leaders have been willing to consider the idea (called Universal basic income) of replacing welfare payments to the poor with cash payments. The idea is pretty simple: welfare programs have a bunch of hoops and phase-outs that can often disincentivize going from welfare to work. One problem (as other conservatives often point out) is that politicians are unwilling to eliminate the welfare programs and pay them out in a cash equivalent.

In recent years there have been experiments, supposedly with UBI concepts, but they never actually result in replacement of welfare with cash, they simply result in more cash. We critiqued a 2021 Santa Fe program along those lines.

Now, Las Cruces has gotten into the mix. A privately funded guaranteed basic income project allocated 330 families $500 per month and ended in January. Results haven’t been analyzed yet. Now, thanks to $1.7 million dollars of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, multiple nonprofits in the Las Cruces community will provide $500 monthly payments over 18 months to 150 eligible Las Cruces families”

Will the results of these experiments mean anything? Sure, most people, especially those with low incomes, will gladly take an extra $500 annually, but unless the UBI is a replacement as opposed to a supplement for existing welfare programs it will be rather meaningless.

Interestingly, Mayor Ken Miyagishima, a Democrat, appears to be the only voice of reason in Las Cruces government. He said, “I hope it doesn’t just turn into, hey, I got this money, this is great. And okay, it ran out, so what am I going to do now?”

After more than a decade of waiting New Mexicans can be forgiven for considering the recent paid tourism launches out of Spaceport America “good enough” and moving on.

But, in a rare indepth story that questions the financial viability of lead tenant Virgin Galactic, the Albuquerque Journal recently highlighted the fact that there are still serious questions about the viability of operations at Spaceport America. There are also some in the New Mexico Legislature who would like the cash-rich State to take over control of the facility in a move to aid local governments which continue to tax themselves to keep the facility afloat.

A recent economic analysis of the Spaceport purported to show significant positive financial impact on New Mexico’s economy. Sen. Joe Cervantes (D), expressed skepticism of those numbers as would anyone looking at a report paid for by the Spaceport Authority and designed to justify its existence.

One paragraph summarizes Virgin Galactic’s situation:

Virgin Galactic is bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars a year to build its next-generation fleet of Delta Class spaceships, with many more financial hurdles still on the horizon as it strives to ramp up its manufacturing capacity and build out the infrastructure and services it needs to sustain business operations in the long term.

Even as it has gotten manned space tourism launches underway in recent months Virgin Galactic’s stock price continues to plummet.

RGF has long contended that spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars to build and maintain the facility was an unwise move by the Richardson Administration and the Legislature.

Here a the Rio Grande Foundation we love to disagree with radical environmental US Senator Martin Heinrich and others who would both blow billions of our tax dollars on environmental projects while regulating the US economy and energy production in an attempt to eliminate CO2 emissions. All while doing nothing to limit growing CO2 emitters China and India.

But there is always someone crazier, especially on the environment and sadly the supposedly “pro-environment” protestors who attempted to disrupt a Democrat-sponsored meeting in Downtown Albuquerque yesterday are ultimately outside the boundaries of rational argument.

According to the ABQ Journal, protestors implacably oppose not only carbon sequestration, but also nuclear energy (some of the signs make that clear). As per the usual, the “only” supportable forms of energy among the extremists are wind and solar.

But, as the chart below from the Energy Information Administration highlights, “renewables” account for just 13% of all US energy consumption. And, those “renewables” include numerous dirty biofuels and hydroelectric which is not available in large swaths of the nation. Wind and solar combine for about 42% of “renewables” which means they account for a whopping 6% of all US energy consumed (after decades of heavy subsidies).

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Estancia Valley Classical Academy parent Craig Springer and teacher Traci Erickson. EVCA was until recently affiliated with Hillsdale College and its Barney charter school project.

Paul believes EVCA is one of the “crown jewels” of New Mexico’s K-12 education system and developments at the school are critical to the movement for a freer Land of Enchantment.

Americans are anxious about the US economy and for good reason. Americans are poorer now than they have been. Of course those of us who care about the federal government’s finances (Biden seems not to) are also concerned by the out-of-control debt that has been piled on in recent years.

But, as Stephen Moore points out in a new article, Biden’s policies have increased poverty. This is no surprise to anyone who understands basic economics. Blowing money on so-called “green” boondoggles, massive spending and inflation, and rampant federal regulations (including on energy) have caused poverty to worsen significantly under Biden. See the very telling chart below.

There has been a lot going on at the Rio Grande Foundation recently. For starters, on the evening of September 12, RGF president Paul Gessing participated in a panel on homelessness and homeless policy (held under the auspices of the UNM Law School and Judge James Browning). The panel below included a diverse array of opinions on the subject. You can listen to a podcast on homelessness that Paul recorded with Judge Glock of the Manhattan Institute here.

RGF’s president was also in Socorro recently where he spoke to the Socorro Republican Party and visited with former NM House Speaker Don Tripp.

During his visit to Socorro Paul stopped by McDonald’s (around 8pm on a Thursday) and noticed the adjacent bank of EV chargers. By no means was there a throng of cars charging although there WAS one vehicle.

Finally, Paul and his wife Krista had  a chance to attend the Folds of Honor dinner over the last weekend. A few months ago Paul spoke to Col. Jim Quick who heads the NM Folds of Honor chapter which provides scholarship to families of fallen or injured military and first responders.

MLG goes full totalitarian with a ban on carrying guns in public in Bernalillo County. 

As COVID cases rise and some places reinstate restrictions, RGF notes that he and the skeptics were right and MLG and the lock downers were wrong. 

A local blogger believes that since she won the election she was right about COVID.

MLG asks for a $30 million Literacy Institute.

As we move toward the EIB making a decision on MLG’s EV mandate RGF posts a fairly comprehensive list of issues with EV’s and EV mandates in particular.

While a great deal of attention has been focused on Gov. Lujan’s anti-gun policies recently, but it is worth noting that she remains committed to eliminating individual choices New Mexicans make when they purchase a car.

A recent story involving Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm highlights the challenge of EV’s.  According to NPR, “Granholm’s trip through the southeast, from Charlotte, N.C., to Memphis, Tenn., was intended to draw attention to the billions of dollars the White House is pouring into green energy and clean cars.”

Her caravan of EVs — including a luxury Cadillac Lyriq, a hefty Ford F-150 and an affordable Bolt electric utility vehicle — was planning to fast-charge in Grovetown, a suburb of Augusta, Georgia.

Her advance team realized there weren’t going to be enough plugs to go around. One of the station’s four chargers was broken, and others were occupied. So an Energy Department staffer tried parking a nonelectric vehicle by one of those working chargers to reserve a spot for the approaching secretary of energy.

That did not go down well: a regular gas-powered car blocking the only free spot for a charger?

In fact, a family that was boxed out — on a sweltering day, with a baby in the vehicle — was so upset they decided to get the authorities involved: They called the police.

Later on in the story it is noted that “According to the auto-data giant J.D. Power, worries about public chargers are the No. 1 reason why would-be EV buyers are reluctant to make the switch, even outranking concerns about high prices. And driver satisfaction with public chargers is getting worse, not better.”

Numerous problems with EV’s can be found in the story.

Because New Mexico is not alone among  “blue” states in embracing EV mandates. Thus, Rio Grande Foundation has joined a national  coalition called “Save our Cars” to fight back against those like Michelle Lujan Grisham who would take away our vehicle choice.

Find out more about the national Save our Cars Coalition which Rio Grande Foundation is a member of by clicking below.

Finally, federal legislation has been introduced in Congress to preserve Americans’ right to purchase the car of their choice. H.R. 1435, the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, led by Rep. John Joyce would end California’s and New Mexico’s (to name two states) efforts to ban gas-powered cars and preserve Americans’ ability to choose the vehicles that best suit their lives.

As we noted recently, Gov. Lujan Grisham took the outrageous step of banning the carrying of guns in Bernalillo County for 30 days.  Here are just a few of the many gun control proponents who have stated publicly that MLG’s order goes too far (the post includes a response from MLG):

Hey Ted, conceal and open carry are state laws that I have jurisdiction over. If you’re really interested in helping curb gun violence, I’d welcome you to join our next police academy class. https://t.co/Odf9fNbO2W https://t.co/17ca1dYpLc

— Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) September 10, 2023

I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution. https://t.co/6GfbOZLc7g

— David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) September 9, 2023

If you are arrested or assessed a civil penalty for exercising your constitutional right to carry a firearm on account of @GovMLG blatantly illegal executive order, please contact my office, we will represent you pro bono.

The Constitution matters. https://t.co/qPR4CuyqNA

— jacobcandelaria (@CivilRightsNM) September 10, 2023

And, while Elon Musk is certainly not a “progressive.” He is rather heterodox in his views. Here’s what Musk had to say:

At risk of stating what should be obvious, deliberately violating the Constitution is next-level illegal.

How soon can this person be removed from office?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 9, 2023

With the end of COVID emergencies nationwide (and in New Mexico) by spring of 2023, people have been waiting to see what the next “public health emergency” would be and where it would take place. Some believed it would be on the environment and climate. Others thought another round of COVID would bring it on, but as it turns out the issue is guns and the location is New Mexico. where Michelle Lujan Grisham has imposed a 30 day ban on carrying a gun in Bernalillo County. 

The plan is clearly unconstitutional and illegal under New Mexico laws. But the point seems to be that no rights are safe in New Mexico under this Gov. She will suspend your rights in an “emergency” and let the courts sort things out in time.

Attacking both the 2nd Amendment AND New Mexico gun law could be just a prelude to other rights in the future.

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Rep. Larry Scott. Rep. Scott represents part of Hobbs, NM in the Legislature as a Republican. Paul and Larry discuss the electricity situation in New Mexico and whether nuclear might be a part of the “energy transition.” They also discuss other issues with New Mexico’s electricity reliability and price.

Paul and Larry then talk about the prospects for gross receipts tax reform and how a bill passed in 2019 impacts those prospects.  Also, Rep. Scott has introduced legislation to assist New Mexico local governments hold onto additional tax revenues that could assist with replacing revenue lost previously as well as potential lost revenue from needed GRT reform.

The following appeared in National Review’s Capital Matters on September 8, 2023.

With the passing of former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, yet another Democrat of a bygone era departs the scene. Richardson was personally friendly and ideologically simpatico with Bill Clinton, helping the president pass the NAFTA free-trade agreement and then being named U.N. ambassador for the final few years of that administration.

Free trade is (sadly) increasingly unpopular on both sides of the aisle, and in this sense both Richardson and Clinton are creatures of a different era.

However, it is worth examining Richardson’s economic record as governor of New Mexico to better understand his own career and just how far and fast the Democratic Party has moved to the left (both nationally as well as in the Land of Enchantment).

Richardson was governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He had the good fortune of succeeding Gary Johnson. You see, while New Mexico used to be a purple state on the national stage, its legislature was and has remained a stronghold of big-government Democrats. Johnson, known to many New Mexicans as “Governor No,” was known for his prodigious use of the veto pen. As a libertarian-leaning Republican, he did this, in part, to keep a lid on government spending.

Johnson’s attempts to get tax cuts through the heavily Democratic New Mexico legislature proved fruitless, but when Richardson took over in 2003, he immediately pushed for significant tax reductions. He cut the state’s top income-tax rate from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent and reduced capital-gains taxes dramatically. He wasn’t just a tax-cutting Democrat. In his era, he was arguably the best tax-cutting governor in the nation. This paid off in strong job-creation numbers and personal-income growth, and New Mexico jumped from the 47th- to the 42nd-ranked state in personal incomes in just a few years. Pro-growth economic policy is no longer an element of Democratic politics.

But Richardson was by no means an avid supply-sider. During an era of strong economic growth nationally and in the relatively impoverished Land of Enchantment, Richardson sadly fell into the trap of putting significant taxpayer resources into big-government boondoggles.

It is worth noting that much of this (good and bad) was leading up to a run for the White House in 2008. As governor of a small, impoverished state with a low national profile, Richardson, who already had federal-government experience, believed that he needed a splashy track record of transforming New Mexico’s economy.

To that end, he created the Rail Runner commuter train, which began operation in 2006 and runs nearly 100 miles, from the south of Albuquerque to the state capital in Santa Fe. It cost more than a mind-blowing $1 billion to build (it needed 20 miles of brand-new track) and requires more than $20 million in annual taxpayer subsidies to operate. Despite running between two of New Mexico’s largest cities, much of the route is sparsely populated. As with so many transit systems in the Covid and post-Covid eras, it continues to lose what little ridership it had.

Another one of Richardson’s taxpayer-funded projects that remains unproven (at best), even after having launched more than a decade ago, is Spaceport America. Billed as the “world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport,” it has finally seen its first commercial space-tourism flight, via Virgin Galactic. The spaceport, in the harsh desert of southern New Mexico, was built at the behest of Richardson for Virgin Galactic at a cost of $225 million to taxpayers, though add-ons and further investments have driven the cost to around $275 million, and the facility already needs major repairs.

Subsidies for particular companies, including personal-jet manufacturer Eclipse Aviation and solar-panel manufacturer Schott Solar, also failed to ensure long-term economic success. In fact, those companies went out of business long ago, which only proves government’s unfitness for picking winners and losers.

Finally, Richardson laid the groundwork for New Mexico’s costly film subsidies, which have helped the film industry while failing to more broadly develop New Mexico’s economy. The program, as Richardson designed it, led to New Mexico taxpayers reimbursing Hollywood film producers for up to 25 percent of their overall expenses for filming in the state. Richardson is by no means the only politician to have thrown money at Hollywood: Under current Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the program has expanded even further, offering producers a subsidy of up to 40 percent of their expenses.

Highlighting his relative moderation, Richardson (gently) reproached Governor Lujan Grisham for her overly zealous and failed Covid lockdown strategy. He also (sagely) urged state legislators and Lujan Grisham to avoid raising taxes in the most recent legislative session. During this session, New Mexico had a $3.6 billion (42 percent) year-over-year budget surplus, yet Democrats in the legislature were seriously considering a number of tax hikes.

Fortunately, they did not go through.

Bill Richardson’s death is a reminder of just how far the Democratic Party has moved to the left on economic policy. His willingness to listen to all sides and try to forge consensus across party lines is sorely missing from today’s politics.

MLG’s plan to push an electric vehicle mandate through the Environmental Improvement Board is kicking into gear. The Board is expected to begin deliberation on ramping up New Mexico’s EV mandate to 43% by 2027 and 82% by 2032 on November 15.

This is a DEEPLY flawed policy that Rio Grande Foundation will be working hard to stop. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of the many reasons why EV mandates are harmful:

• • New Mexico’s elected officials, especially the Legislature should vote on such a dramatic policy change, not a governor-appointed board;
  • Range issues are real. Thus, range anxiety is real. The problem is worse in rural areas where there are fewer charging stations.
  • Charging stations are expensive. A basic home station costs about $600. For a public “level 2” station conduits alone cost upwards of $15,000 per unit. Public charging stations cost anywhere from $5,500 to $40,000 depending on charging speeds.
  • Charging an EV can be slow. The most common publicly-available charging station is “Level 2” will charge between 12 and 80 miles per hour (far slower than a typical gas pump).
  • Those charging stations are often not functional. One California study found 27% of California charging stations were not functional.
  • Public charging stations are often taxpayer-funded or subsidized unlike gas stations highlighting the government-driven nature of America’s and New Mexico’s pro-EV policy.
  • EV’s are not profitable even with massive government subsidies. One 2023 report found that Ford Motor Company was losing $66,446 on each EV sold.
  • EV sticker prices can be up to double the upfront cost of a gas. powered car ($65,000 vs. $32,000 for a mid-sized car).
  • EV’s require massive quantities of mined materials that are in short supply: lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite are just some of the materials that will need a massive new supply for EV’s and their batteries. Benchmark found 359 new mines and similar facilities would be needed by 2035.
  • US policymakers have shown little interest in approving new mining permits to bring prices of materials used in EV’s down.
  • Electric reliability is an issue in an increasing number of US states, but EV’s will need massive increases in electricity supplies if EV’s are to be deployed widely. A 2019 study found that if EV’s were to replace all gas powered vehicles it would increase demand by 20-50%. The source of this electricity would of course go a long way to determining whether EV’s are “green” or not, but an overwhelming share of American electricity is generated by fossil fuels.
  • EV’s do not pay gas tax and thus do not fund road construction and maintenance. A bill was introduced in the 2023 New Mexico Legislature to impose a fee on EV’s for roads, but it did not pass.
  • Furthermore, EV’s do more damage to roads than do internal combustion vehicles. A British study found EV’s do 2.24 times more damage to roads than do IC cars.
  • EV’s could cause damage to and possibly even collapse of parking garages due to their heavy weights.
  • While it’s debatable how prone EV’s are to catching fire it is documented that battery fires are hotter and more dangerous than other fires. 
  • There are places in New Mexico with a lack of electricity and apartment dwellers and renters have limited access to charging stations.

Ultimately, EV’s may or may not be a good replacement technology for the internal combustion engine. But, government through mandates and extensive subsidies should not be the final arbiter of this choice. That should fall to consumers. Sadly, Gov. Lujan Grisham has joined the EV bandwagon at the expense of personal freedom.

Gov. Lujan Grisham’s announced $30 million “literacy institute” drew groans from conservatives online. New Mexico education spending has exploded on a per-pupil basis in recent years as  oil and gas money has boosted spending and fewer students are in the public system (NM is now ranked 20th nationwide per-pupil). The State spends more than $4 billion for results that by all accounts are abysmal.

So, what’s another $30 million “literacy institute” going to do? If the money results in improved teaching of reading and better student outcomes it will be money well spent. On the other hand, New Mexico already spends more than $15,000 per-student and fails to get the results of states that spend closer to $10,000 per student.  This doesn’t even include all those education degrees for teachers who should have been taught to read in their college of education.

So, if it works, great, $30 million is a drop in the bucket in a State that already spends more than $4 billion on the worst results in the nation. Of course, Mississippi is just one of large number of states that has dramatically improved education outcomes at a fraction of the cost that New Mexico achieves the very worst outcomes.

During this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss their respective recent trips out of state and their coincidentally winding up on the same flight.

With the recent passing of former NM Gov. Bill Richardson, Paul and Wally discuss him and his mixed legacy in New Mexico. 

Joe “The Plumber” who once spoke at an RGF-sponsored event  also passed recently. Paul and Wally discuss his rise to notoriety.

Some leftist southern NM Democrats are calling for NMSU to censor conservative speakers like Matt Walsh.

Op-ed; Time for an All of the Above approach to education (plus our conference).

More work needed to address NM’s doctor shortage, especially in rural NM.

Oxfam has a report on “Best States to Work.” The report misses the boat, but even more importantly is the fact that with a $1 billion + annual budget it raises questions about what the organization is telling impoverished foreigners.

Whether you are a fan of Starbucks or not, these stores are like printing money and with no other Starbucks located within the downtown ABQ urban core, it is NOT a good sign that this store has closed permanently. There are plenty of other great coffee places downtown and we’ve been to a number of them, but tourists and others in a hurry love their Starbucks.

Why the store closed is hard to say. It seemed busy enough. It WAS closed for a LONG time during COVID, but had been open for the last year or so. Crime? Lack of downtown foot traffic? Inability to find employees?

In a post yesterday we reminded New Mexicans that skeptics of lockdowns and other extreme COVID policies were right and those (like Gov. Lujan Grisham) who imposed such policies were wrong.

Apparently one of New Mexico’s most prominent bloggers believes that determining scientific accuracy is based on a reelection vote in which the Gov. ran on completely unrelated issues including “democracy” and abortion.

To reiterate, Sweden bucked the global lockdown trend in 2020 and wound up outperforming on a number of important data points.

The last I looked, she won reelection. So who was right? https://t.co/96AEio94EH

— Joe Monahan (@newsguy44) September 5, 2023

As the media has attempted to spin up fears over the spread of COVID in recent weeks it is worth reminding New Mexicans that we (those skeptical of strict government controls) were correct while those like Gov. Lujan Grisham who pushed them have been proven wrong (or at the VERY least their chosen policies have NOT proven effective (heavy-handed policies. SHOULD be based on strong evidence).

Here are a few major issues:

1. Keeping students out of school as MLG did was a massive fail. New Mexico was the 6th-longest. state in terms of kids being kept out of school. There is widespread agreement and data highlighting that this was a massive failure.
2. Arbitrary and lengthy business closures were unfair and we knew it from the very beginning. The idea that Lowe’s and Home Depot could remain open as “essential” while smaller garden stores and other competitors had to close was silly. Same with restaurant closures and silly “outdoor dining” requirements.
3. Masks were a flashpoint and while their effectiveness remains speculative (studies can be found on both sides), mandating their use as MLG did was not effective. Currently masks are worn willingly by a small number of people. Hopefully mask mandates don’t return.
4. Vaccines may be wise for some to take, but their effectiveness at stopping the spread of COVID was over-sold. Regardless, there should never have been vaccine mandates.
5. Rather than encouraging physical activity MLG closed off numerous opportunities for healthy activity and recreation (even golf courses were closed for a few months). This is one of many ways in which her misguided and anti-science policies hurt New Mexico.We at the Rio Grande Foundation opposed the Gov. every step of the way on these and other COVID policies. Did we miss any? Put yours in the comments. 

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has died. While we at the Rio Grande Foundation often disagreed with the former Gov. we also had our areas of agreement. Here are a few thoughts on him and his legacy.

Compared to today’s Democrats Richardson was a moderate. He genuinely seemed to desire economic growth for New Mexico and had a plan (which was fairly successful) to grow NM’s economy. He cut NM’s top income tax rate from 8.2% to 4.9% and reduced capital gains taxes as well.

Sadly, Richardson ALSO fell into the trap of big government boondoggles. His purchase of a supercomputer was one, but his Rail Runner and Spaceport have been very costly. The RailRunner continues to lose ridership while the Spaceport remains unproven even as Virgin Galactic FINALLY has started manned tourism launches. Subsidies for Eclipse Aviation and Schott Solar also failed to create long-term economic success.  Richardson also laid the groundwork for New Mexico’s costly film subsidies which have helped film while failing to more broadly develop New Mexico’s economy despite hundreds of millions in subsidies.

Richardson was pro-2nd Amendment, especially compared to modern Democrats. He was endorsed by the NRA twice. 

In broader terms Richardson was a consensus-builder who genuinely tried to represent the entire state whereas current Gov. Lujan Grisham often ignores rural New Mexico in favor of vote-rich urban areas.

Richardson (gently) reproached Gov. Lujan Grisham for her overly-zealous failed COVID lockdown strategy. He also (sagely) pushed NM legislators and Lujan Grisham to avoid raising taxes in the most recent legislative session.

Finally, as with so many other New Mexico politicians, ethical questions abound. Richardson was associated with noted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and missed out on a key role in the Obama Administration due to ethical questions. There is likely a great deal to both of these stories that the public is not aware of, but they highlight deep-seated problems with New Mexico’s political culture and Richardson’s own character.

According to The Daily Wire left-wing Democrat Senators Soules and Hamblen recently sent a letter to the University president in which they “expressed their ‘extreme disappointment’ that the university allowed (conservative political commentator) Matt Walsh to speak on campus at a Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) event in April.”

The senators apparently don’t want anyone at the University to have an opportunity to hear from Matt Walsh.

Walsh is known for his documentary What is a Woman? in which he asks numerous academics and gender “experts” that simple question. You can watch Walsh’s full speech at NMSU below. Considering that the talk remains available through the oft-censored Youtube is an indicator that is speech was hardly as offensive and inflammatory as the senators would have you believe.

This week Paul joins Wally from Chicago where he is attending the State Policy Network conference of free market think tanks.

Paul and Wally both attended a presentation on carbon capture held by the American Petroleum Institute in Albuquerque. Wally has significant experience with this technology and the two discuss its potential in New Mexico.

NM has another massive surplus. Will the politicians blow it again? What should they do?

Paul further flushes out the concept of MLG-nomics.

Along with unprecedented revenue there have been unprecedented increases in construction costs. What can be done about rising costs? Is the federal government helping?

ABQ’s contract w/ James Ginger has been revised.

According to recent news reports (and RGF’s own work) more work needs to be done to address New Mexico’s medical provider crisis, especially in rural areas. Talk of an obstetrics “desert” and two-thirds of hospitals in the state with expenses exceed their revenue over the last 12 months dominated recent hearings.

For starters, New Mexico is by no means alone in facing a health care shortage. A recent Wallethub report ranked the State 34th overall. America’s increasingly government-driven health care system is inherently dysfunctional.

However, while the Legislature tackled some low-hanging fruit in the last session like addressing medical malpractice, ending GRT on medical providers, and pumping up Medicaid reimbursements, there is more to be done and this is where it gets difficult. Also, some issues impacting the supply of health practitioners (like immigration policy) are not under state control.

• Reducing the State’s Medicaid dependency is a starting point with 47% of the State’s population on the government program.
• Expanding New Mexico’s scope of practice laws and increasing use of telemedicine.
• Reduce income taxes (doctors are high earning professionals)
• Work broadly to improve the economy, especially in rural areas.

There is plenty to be done. We’ll see if Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Legislature have the will to take on these challenging issues.

Oxfam is typically known for its international work Oxfam that, as they describe themselves, “fights inequality to end poverty and injustice.” Interestingly they just came out with a new report which purports to rank the “best US states to work” in America. 

Since Oxfam is typically considered a “left wing” organization, it is no surprise that we at the Rio Grande Foundation would find the results lacking, but it is not merely a question of ideology. The fact is that the report’s top ranking states are: California, Oregon, DC, and New York at the very top. New Mexico is 16th which is unusual for the Land of Enchantment which finds itself at the very bottom of most lists.

Some of the fastest growing states happen to be ranked at the very bottom by Oxfam including: North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Utah. Utah in particular is a state that usually performs very well on all manner of state rankings, but not Oxfam’s.

Of course, Oxfam’s report heavily focuses on restrictive wage and economic policies including: minimum wages, paid sick leave, and the absence of Right to Work laws.

Sadly, Oxfam’s report is completely worthless. It totally misses economic reality and the preferences expressed by millions of Americans leaving “blue” states like New York and California and flocking to the very “red” states that are growing fast. 

In addition to this report being based on a misguided philosophy one must wonder what public policies Oxfam is encouraging with its $1 billion + dollar yearly budget.