Michelle Lujan Grisham’s failed COVID lockdowns did serious harm to already-lagging New Mexico student outcomes in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in which New Mexico students were ranked last across ALL categories 4th and 8th grade reading and 4th and 8th grade math.

With the release of 2024 NAEP numbers we see yet again that New Mexico students rank at the VERY bottom in each of the same categories.

In 4th grade reading New Mexico scored 201 which ranked us 52nd (behind all 50 states, DC, and DoD schools). Alaska students were 2nd lowest at 202.

In 8th grade reading New Mexico scored 245 which again ranked us 52nd. Alaska students were again 2nd-lowest at 246.

In 4th grade math New Mexico scored 224 which again ranked us 52nd. Alaska students were again 2nd-lowest at 226.

In 8th grade math New Mexico scored 256 which again ranked us 52nd. West Virginia at 261 was 2nd-lowest.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has put out a new Education Freedom Index which ranks all US states on their level of education freedom. New Mexico came in 44th in the 2025 index. That is a dramatic decline from our 35th ranking two years ago.  The authors changed the report slightly to more heavily weight private school choice like Education Savings Accounts, vouchers, and tax credits, none of which are in place in New Mexico.

Other areas analyzed (including New Mexico’s grade) are:

Charter Schools (C)

Home Schooling (B)

Virtual Schooling (D)

Open Enrollment (F)

You can see the map of overall rankings and the list of rankings below. New Mexico shows no signs of improving based on the current political climate while Texas is expected to soon embrace school choice in a big way.

In recent years to the extent New Mexico’s population growth has grown it has largely been due to the addition of retirees. But, according to a new report from Wallethub New Mexico ranks a poor 46th overall among places to retire. The ranking which includes variables on affordability, quality of life, and health care give New Mexico low marks overall with 38th in affordability, 45th in quality of life, and 33rd in health care.

One particular area of concern is the cost of in-home services (below). This is undoubtedly driven by New Mexico’s burdensome gross receipts tax, high minimum wages in the cities, and low workforce participation rate. All of these unnecessarily boosts cost of labor-intensive services. New Mexico’s overall living costs were neither high or low, but typically New Mexico is seen as a low-cost option relative to other states. Not in this area.

And, of course there is crime. And, while seniors are not particularly sensitive to failing schools in New Mexico or elsewhere they ARE impacted by New Mexico’s high crime rate, especially property crime. According to the graphic below our property crime rate is 4X that of Idaho.

Check out this new report from Axios which looks at median pay by state across the nation. The report uses data from payroll provider ADP’s monthly “Pay Insights” data and is based on gross wage and salary data for about 17 million U.S. jobs.

As our friends at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity note: The top three states based on the median-sized worker paycheck are:

1. Washington, DC: $100,800
2. Massachusetts: $75,700
3. Alaska: $70,000

Furthermore, as the Committee notes, “DC residents also earn twice as much as the median earner in 13 states. New Mexico’s workers can’t be too happy. DC workers now make nearly two and a half times as much as the average New Mexico resident.

This is yet another indictment of New Mexico and its poor economic management. It is also an indictment of how big, powerful, and awash in cash our federal government is and that it and its power need to be downsized. Of course, (ironically) New Mexico (like Washington, DC) is heavily dependent on federal dollars.  Sadly, even WITH our large federal presence New Mexico’s median wage is LOWEST in the NATION.

In years past (especially 60 day sessions) things tended to start slowly. Considering the left-leaning makeup of New Mexico’s Legislature this was a good thing. No longer.

Below is a screen shot of some of the bills we’ve rated for our Freedom Index. They are already beginning their legislative journeys this week with their first committee hearings. The strategy seems to be to overwhelm opponents (like RGF) and our supporters who simply cannot engage on every bill with our limited resources.

So, if you are curious about any or all of the following bills which will all be up for hearings this week, go to the Legislature’s website and reach out to the proper committee (or attend the hearing in-person or virtually). As you ca. n see, all of these bills have been labeled “extreme” by RGF. Most of them impact the oil and gas industry that keeps New Mexico afloat and fuels America’s domestic energy growth.

While ALL of these bills are unlikely to pass, even one or two of them passing could be devastating for New Mexico.

The theme of the 2025 legislative session so far is that Democrats who control majorities in both houses are going to push their biggest, worst bills as quickly through the 60 day session as possible.

We already know Paid Family Leave (HB 11) will be heard on Monday (click here to push back on that).

Net Zero is coming up on Tuesday (SB 4) which would make New Mexico “net zero” in terms of CO2 emissions (and destroy our economy) is up for its first committee assignment in (Senate Conservation Committee).

According to Stanford University reaching net zero globally would cost $120 TRILLION. Of course, many of the biggest polluting nations in the world (China and India to name two) have ZERO interest in net-zero and will continue to grow their economies and their CO2 emissions regardless of what happens in New Mexico. Of course, the US as a whole continues to see reductions in CO2 emissions even in the midst of an oil and gas boom which has its epicenter in NM.

These bills are BOTH rated -8 in RGF’s Freedom Index. 

The following is directly from Wednesday’s Santa Fe New Mexican. It is a exceedingly gentle fact check of some of MLG’s biggest whoppers during her State of the State address. We did our own analysis of her speech here.

As the fact check below notes, MLG AGAIN made bold claims about poverty reduction in New Mexico. What the New Mexican fails to clarify is that there simply was NO reduction from 50th to 17th in New Mexico’s child poverty rate. We have written on this extensively and it is simply pathetic that the Gov. continues to make this claim.

And, of course the Gov. wants people to believe that CYFD’s myriad failures are a funding issue when of course New Mexico has been flooded with resources.

Finally, as Joe Biden so regularly did, MLG likes to claim every job destroyed by COVID and recovered since then was her doing when in reality New Mexico’s job growth has been modest.

On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Zach Fort. Fort, a return guest on Tipping Point NM, handles legislative affairs for the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association. They discuss threats to gun rights, crime and whether genuine efforts to fight it will come about it in the the 2025 legislative session as well as Gov. Lujan Grisham’s status as the most anti-gun governor in the entire country.

As they have in a few recent legislative sessions the “progressive” left in Santa Fe is pushing paid family leave. As in years past Rio Grande Foundation is part of the grassroots coalition (The Coalition for Working Families) working to stop this horrible bill which would:

• Impose new taxes on employees;
• Impose new taxes on employers;
• Allow for up to 12 weeks of paid leave ANNUALLY;
• Create a fund that analysts say will go insolvent in the near future (thus requiring additional tax hikes).

RGF will be sure to alert you to how you can help us stop this horrendous legislation (HB 11) here at Errors of Enchantment, but if you want to get MORE involved in the effort we encourage you to sign up for alerts from the Coalition.

The bill failed by two votes last session with a bipartisan coalition opposing it in the House. We expect this to be a hard-fought battle once again.

Albuquerque’s bus ridership continued to slowly rebound from the COVID 19 pandemic in 2024, but as with the Rail Runner, ridership remains well below pre-pandemic numbers.

The Rio Grande Foundation requested and received publicly-available ridership records showing that ridership on the city bus system crept over 7 million for the 2024 calendar year. That’s a 12.6% increase from 2023 to 2024. But, bus ridership remains nearly 22% below where it was in 2019 (the last full year before COVID).

Notably, starting in January 0f 2022 the City began offering “free” bus fares which the City claims has boosted ridership, but bus ridership actually lags behind even the RailRunner in terms of where it stands relative to 2019.

In an effort to better understand exactly where New Mexico is heading during her final two years we took a close listen to MLG’s State of the State address which took place on Tuesday. We watched it in its entirety. Here are a few thoughts. For starters, it is worth noting that MLG does not mention paid family leave which has been a priority of the “progressives” in the Legislature. Stopping that is RGF’s top priority and we are hopeful that perhaps MLG is not going to push the issue. She also does not discuss tax cuts except for cuts targeted at one specific group (see below).

MLG is very excited about NM potentially seeing an improvement in its bond rating. Of course this is due to the revenue boom from oil and gas which she omits. She also omits ANY mention of returning part of the budget surplus to the people of New Mexico.

MLG cites New Mexico’s “Cradle to Career Education System which includes a Right to Child Care, Universal Pre-K, and Free College.”

She repeatedly applauds “a right to child care” and repeatedly refers to “universal pre-K” as “child care.” She even asks for $205 million MORE to make “child care” truly universal (what happened to the money already allocated from permanent fund or the Early Childhood Permanent Fund)? Finally, it is interesting she calls it “child care” and not “pre-K.”

MLG touts an 11% increase in reading proficiency thanks to last summer’s reading program. She offers no data backing this up nor does she cite where this number comes from.

She urges the Legislature to fund the 180 day school year which she has tried to mandate (no 4-day school weeks).

She asks the Legislature for $50 million to directly fund tribes and pueblos to provide educational services through the Indian Education Fund.

She again cites “Free child care, free pre-K, free school meals, free college, child tax cred, & working family tax credits as benefiting New Mexico families.”

“When you take into account the investments we’ve made in recent years our poverty rates drops to 17th in the nation, better than the national average. She’s fine until she states “50th-17th two years and says “check the numbers out.” Where? We have critiqued her claims and attempted to find any evidence for her claims. Good luck finding a state ranking of the supplemental poverty measure by state.

In an interesting move she calls for the Legislature to exempt foster families from personal income tax and double stipends for foster families.

She wants to create a state sponsored fire insurance fund which is a bad idea.

She wants to fund a Strategic Water Supply that would involved using frack water for various non-consumption-based uses. This seems like a reasonable idea.

She urges the Legislature to make New Mexico “Net Zero by 2050” which is a terrible idea.

MLG urges regulatory and zoning changes to make building housing easier plus (a good idea). She also pushes for $50 million in subsidies + a new state housing office (both of which are not needed).

She asks for $50 million to fight homelessness. We need more enforcement, not more funding.

MLG asks for a tax credit for businesses that invest in anti-crime efforts including things like private security. Leveraging private crime fighting is a worthwhile idea.

MLG notes that New Mexico medical malpractice rates are 2X national average. Rather than taking that head-on by addressing venue shopping and other issues MLG urges the creation of a state sponsored (taxpayer-funded) medical malpractice program.

The Gov.’s address doesn’t start until the 1:45 mark

Donald Trump was (again) inaugurated president of the United States on Monday. Paul and Wally discuss and address issues w/ Biden’s presidency.

Biden issued more pardons on his way out the door including for Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley, and several family members. More pardons have been issued by Biden than any other president in American history.

Biden even attempted to declare the Equal Rights Amendment the 28th amendment to the US Constitution.

The LFC budget (like MLG’s) is ALSO a dud for New Mexico taxpayers.

Yes, New Mexico could/should eliminate NM’s personal income tax.

NM Women’s Specialists to stop delivering babies at Presbyterian citing New Mexico’s tax, malpractice, and Medicaid. Also, NM House Dems outline their health care plans for session (which don’t do anything for the doctor shortage).

Paul has been watching the TV show Landman. He recommends this short, profanity laced talk by actor Billy Bob Thornton about the importance of oil and gas.

The following appeared in Las Cruces Sun News on January 19, 2025.

According to the latest budget analyses from the Legislature, New Mexico policymakers have nearly $900 million in “new” money available as the session begins in Santa Fe. This comes on top of massive surpluses in recent years which the Legislature has largely spent or used to bolster the State’s already prodigious sovereign wealth funds which now total $58 billion.

In many states across the nation policymakers of both parties would be fighting to see who can come up with the best tax cut or rebate plan. Sadly, this November, New Mexico’s voters again chose to elect the most left-wing people on the ballot.

This means that instead of tax cuts, the New Mexico Legislature is (again) seriously considering raising taxes on hard-working New Mexicans.

The main tax hike on the Legislature’s agenda is a tax hike on alcohol. This has been contemplated in recent years only for varying groups of “progressives” in the Legislature have failed to agree. Gov. Lujan Grisham even vetoed a small alcohol tax hike that passed the Legislature in 2023.

Advocates of higher alcohol taxes have argued that New Mexico’s alcohol taxes are “low.” And that raising alcohol taxes will reduce problems associated with alcohol. But, currently half of the State’s alcohol excise tax revenues are allocated to the state’s general fund. If the problem is a lack of resource for treatment, the Legislature should start by increasing that allocating, not necessarily the tax.

Also, New Mexico’s taxes on alcohol are hardly “low.” According to the Tax Foundation, New Mexico’s $6.06/gallon tax on distilled spirits ranks 24^th in the nation. Our 41 cent/gallon tax on beer is 14^th-highest in the nation. And, our wine tax of $1.51/gallon places New Mexico at 5^th-highest in the nation.

New Mexicans aren’t even particularly big consumers of alcohol relative to other states. According to data from World Population Review New Mexico’s alcohol consumption per-capita is ranked 31^st in the nation. At 2.3 gallons annually New Mexicans consume less than half the alcohol consumed in New Hampshire where the average person consumes 4.8 gallons.

At the risk of being unfair we will simply note that New Hampshire performs far better on nearly every available social metric than does New Mexico (violence, poverty, child outcomes).

As is so often the case in public policy politicians are considering a tax hike on the broad population of New Mexicans to address problems created by a relatively tiny number of people. Putting the entire current alcohol tax into treatment is a reasonable way to address New Mexico’s problem drinkers. Raising taxes on everyone simply is not.

Alcohol taxes are seen as regressive because they tend to be charged at a single rate (thus impacting those with lower incomes most). On the other hand, high earners both tend to drink more and tend to binge drink more. So, while they may bear more of the tax burden, it is hard to see heavy drinkers with high incomes having their drinking decisions impacted by a higher tax on alcohol.

Taxes are a blunt tool in addressing consumption of a legal product. The policy goal of advocates seems to be some kind of neo-prohibition on the part of New Mexico’s “progressive” politicians. Considering the recent push on the part of many of these same politicians to legalize recreational marijuana one cannot help but be mystified at the inconsistent approaches applied.

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

We don’t have ALL the details about Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s latest plans, but we know enough to understand they don’t make much sense. We’re referring to his plan outlined in a speech recently to give a City-owned piece of land downtown to a New Mexico university that helped to redevelop downtown. 

Here are just a few reasons why this move makes no sense:

1. New Mexico universities are flush with cash and have numerous branch campuses. If they wanted to be in downtown Albuquerque they’d be there already;
2. Why hand “free” land to a university? New Mexico desperately needs private sector economic development. We’re not advocating for ANYONE getting “free” land from the City, but why hand it to a different government entity?
3. The Mayor uses Phoenix and Arizona State University as a successful example. New Mexico isn’t Arizona and Albuquerque isn’t Phoenix. From taxes to population growth to labor laws and numerous other indicators Phoenix blows the doors off Albuquerque.

Which all leads us to crime and homelessness and why Mayor Keller seems unwilling to do what needs to be done to improve downtown (while trying nearly every other option). Of course, the ONE option Keller has not pursued is to advocate for tax cuts and other policies that would promote economic growth Downtown and in the rest of New Mexico.

This article in the Albuquerque Journal from a research professor at George Mason University highlights just how bad the now-deposed president’s contract was/is. It is worth noting that while the Gov. has rightly expressed outrage at the contract and the behavior of WNMU’s president and regents, that SHE put those regents into place. They are her people.

Here are the details on the contract:

The 5-year employment agreement is worth more than $3.5 million — including the base salary, an annual “retention bonus,” supplemental annuity, car allowance, life insurance premium and an estimate of standard fringe benefits.

Dr. Shepherd receives a $2,000 monthly car allowance. The author couldn’t even find a car with a lease that expensive.

While President Shepard’s current contract is quite lucrative, especially for an institution of WNMU’s size and complexity, the separation agreement is, without question, the most generous we’ve seen.

The first five years of his post-presidential appointment is worth more than $3.5 million, including severance pay, faculty salary and fringe benefits. Essentially, the Board of Regents granted him the equivalent of an additional five-year term as president. In addition, the Board of Regents approved a teaching load half that required in the faculty handbook and allows him to teach all his classes remotely.

If the AG or Gov. take legal action against Dr. Shephard WNMU may have to pay any attorney fees as the agreement provides for “representation by counsel of his choosing, and the University shall pay all reasonable costs and fees associated with such counsel’s representation of Dr. Shepard.”

The author concludes: “It’s also clear from reporting by the Journal and other media outlets that State Auditor Joseph Maestas should undertake a statewide audit of expenditures by our public university presidents.”

While corruption is always a problem in New Mexico government it is also worth remembering that Gov. Lujan Grisham led the charge to create “free” college with little to no accountability. So, the Gov. while not directly responsible DOES share responsibility in two specific ways for this corruption.

Having had a front row seat to the last four years of Joe Biden’s administration we are inclined to rate him as the worst US president since Woodrow Wilson (Wilson is our choice for worst of all time). George W. Bush, LBJ, and Richard Nixon are honorable mentions, but we struggled to come up with ANY major policies on which we agreed with Biden. Here’s our Top 10 list of bad Biden policies:

1. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan: 13 US service members were killed and untold both US citizens and US-friendly Afghans were left behind in the biggest foreign policy blunder since the 2003 Iraq invasion;
2. Anti-energy policies: whether it is the canceling of the Keystone XL pipeline, LNG export limits, or putting 625 million acres of outer continental shelf off limits Joe Biden’s policies consistently attacked American energy;
3. Insane border policies: whether you support more legal immigration (as we do) or less, leaving a wide-open border for millions of un-vetted migrants to walk across is bad policy and dangerous;
4. Created inflation crisis with his overspending and anti-energy policies. Trump and every other president (and Congress) who overspent in the past bear some of the burden, but ultimately inflation reared its ugly head under Biden and he was unable or unwilling to solve it;
5. Disregarded rule of law: while Biden never stopped talking about Trump and the rule of law, Biden single-handedly attempted to force millions of Americans to receive an experimental vaccine (this was rejected by the Supreme Court), force taxpayers to pay off student loans, and claim the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment on his way out the door. These are just a few “lowlights” of his harmful policies.
6. Cracked down on free speech
7. Failed COVID policies: unlike Trump, Biden had time and a vaccine ready to go on Day one. Unfortunately Biden’s policies on COVID were both anti-freedom and a failure.  
8. Overspending: while Trump certainly overspent even before the COVID pandemic Biden did nothing to restrain spending and instead took it upon himself to increase the federal deficit by about $2.5 trillion more than what the Congressional Budget Office projected for fiscal years 2021-2024. Spending surged by about $4.7 trillion and tax revenues by about $2.2 trillion. The national debt rose to $35.5 trillion.
9. Overly aggressive enforcement of anti-trust: Biden was anti-business and that included efforts to push back against a host of corporate mergers from Spirit Airlines to Albertsons and Nippon Steel. None of these mergers would have created anything resembling “monopolies.”
10. Overregulation: Biden was a big fan of government regulation with new regulations totaling $1.4 trillion.
11. Abuse of presidential pardon: from Hunter Biden (for crimes that potentially benefited his family) to Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and the members of the January 6th Select Committee (including war hawk Liz Cheney), Biden’s abuse of the pardon power was his last abuse of power on his way out of office.

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Jim Winchester. Jim is the Executive Director of the Independent Oil Producers of New Mexico (IPANM). IPANM is the voice of “small” oil in New Mexico. As small businesses their views tend to align with those of the Rio Grande Foundation. Thus, RGF works closely with Jim and his group on a variety of issues. Find out what is coming during the 2025 legislative session in this important interview.

I am watching the Paramount+ show “Landman.” It is the latest by director Taylor Sheridan and it is entertaining, especially Billy Bob Thornton’s title character Tommy Norris. And, while the show is unrealistic in its inflated portrayal of the dangers of the oil patch and I don’t think anyone could keep up Tommy’s hectic schedule and deal with all the issues he faces, his character delivers some epic speeches. The one below is a short, profanity laced, defense of the oil and gas industry.

Check out the first 3 minutes of the following clip for one of the most eloquent defenses of oil and gas you’ll see in popular media (the dialogue really starts 45 seconds in). The woman is a young attorney working with Tommy’s company.

With $900 million in “new” money and $13.4 billion in general fund revenue available to them, the Legislative Finance Committee’s budget is not much different from the one proposed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. It proposes to spend $10.8 billion which is a slightly lower amount than MLG’s $10.9 billion budget.

While the lower spending number is welcome, the reality is that whether the money is spent now or allocated to one of our State’s permanent funds it is going to be spent by government. How the money is spent makes less of a difference at this point than whether or not some of the surplus is shared with average New Mexicans and businesses (or not).

Of course, legislative Democrats and the Gov. need to look no further than November’s election results. The Democrats have grown government and mostly NOT shared the wealth with average New Mexicans and voters have rewarded them with electoral success.

So, with a long 60-day session ahead of us it looks like taxpayers will be (again) left out in the cold.

This story has been corrected to reflect that it is Women’s Specialists of New Mexico that will no longer deliver babies at Presbyterian Hospital. These two news stories hit on the same day.  According to Dr. Jean Valdez (as quoted in the story) of Women’s Specialists:

“We can no longer stretch our physicians to cover two hospitals,” Valdez said. “We have to take both the physical and mental wellbeing of our physicians in mind and can’t stretch them out too far.”

The change will impact more than 200 patients. Valdez said they have nine physicians providing 24-hour OB coverage. They need that to double. But our state’s facing a crippling shortage of doctors and other medical providers.

Valdez cites New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws, tax policy, and Medicaid reimbursement rates as reasons.

In related news, Democrats who control the Legislature and have controlled New Mexico for nearly 100 years outlined their plans to supposedly address the doctor shortage. The Albuquerque Journal article referred to housing subsidies and mandates to keep certain nursing ratios (of course those ratios require the existence of enough nurses).

The Democrats’ entire plan hinges on Rep. Eleanor Chavez’ ridiculous statement “that corporate greed is a driver of the (health care) crisis.” In reality America and New Mexico have a health care crisis driven by numerous factors including: the third party payment system, Medicare, Medicaid, ObamaCare, occupational licensure, medical malpractice law, our poor economy, poor schools, and high crime (not to mention New Mexico’s rural nature). 

Of course, Democrats don’t want to address what the EXPERT says is the issue which involves fundamental policy change. Instead they’d like to blame “corporate greed” and do nothing.

As the 2025 legislative session looms most are buckling up for another “bumpy ride.” The Legislature is populated more than ever with leftist so-called “progressives” who don’t understand basic economic policies or why New Mexico so often tends to be at “the bottom of the good lists and top of the bad ones.”

But, there are some bright spots. A newly-minted legislator from Hobbs, Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez penned an excellent opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal calling for total elimination of New Mexico’s personal income tax. It is a long-shot given the proclivities of the Legislature, but such a move would make New Mexico the 10th state with no income tax (see below). Currently our top income tax rate of 5.9% is the highest in the region and MUCH higher than economically booming Texas which has NO income tax.

New Mexico HAS plenty of money to do it. The PIT is expected to bring in $2.1 billion in FY 2026. MLG’s proposed general fund budget is $10.94 billion which is a fat budget fueled by rapid revenue growth (thanks oil and gas). With the State expected to bring in $13.4 billion in FY 2026 you could eliminate the whole personal income tax this session and STILL have about $400 million available above and beyond what the Gov. wants to spend.

That’s assuming that eliminating the income tax would have no effect on New Mexico’s economic growth and that there is no way find savings in New Mexico government relative to what MLG wants to spend. Of course the Legislature could also phase in tax cuts over a few years assuming future revenue growth remains strong.

Lots of people in Santa Fe TALK a big game about “diversifying” New Mexico’s economy, but few are actually willing to do it. Kudos to Rep. Sena Cortez for taking a bold step as an incoming freshman.

On this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss the closure of the Amador Entertainment District in Las Cruces and the owner’s eye opening comments.

RGF helped the national Free Speech Coalition win a big victory w/ Meta/Facebook.

New Mexico ranks last in Wallethub’s best states for families.

Albuquerque City Council takes one step forward, one back.

RGF was in the National Review recently.

Paul has a few thoughts on California fires.

With the presidential inauguration and New Mexico Legislative session coming early next week we are excited to keep our listeners updated on developments in Washington and Santa Fe.

Just a few weeks after Gov. Lujan Grisham made some big (since rebutted) claims about improving child poverty in New Mexico, Wallethub has ranked New Mexico dead last in its reports on the best and worst states to raise a family.  There are too many metrics to consider in the Wallethub report (and we don’t agree with ALL of them) but it is yet another indicator of the rampant mismanagement of New Mexico and its economy, education, and criminal justice systems even while the State has benefited from massive oil and gas driven budget surpluses.

You can see the map of all the various states and their overall rankings here:

New Mexico scores poorly in a shocking number of metrics which can be seen below. Violent crime and % of families in poverty are well-known, but did you know New Mexico suffered from such dramatic family problems?:

The following appeared at National Review’s Capital Matters on January 13, 2025.

For decades, New Mexico has struggled with poverty. Thanks to its blue-state model of convoluted and elevated taxes, a failing government education system, and high crime (to name just three issues), it is hard to see New Mexico’s poverty situation changing dramatically.

Sadly, this status quo has not improved even with one of the greatest oil booms in history. Between 2010 and 2023, New Mexico oil production rose tenfold.

If the state had improved its poverty ranking, it wouldn’t have come as a total shock. That jump in oil production has created state budget surpluses and provided opportunities to spend more on social programs.

Unfortunately, after six years in office, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D.) has instead had to resort to pick ‘n mix statistics (others may put it differently) to make it look like her policies have improved childhood poverty.  On November 21, she went on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and told the hosts, “New Mexico went from 50th in child poverty to 17th.” No qualifiers or explanation was given for this dramatic improvement.

It is just one sign of the media’s sad situation that neither host asked the governor any follow-up questions. Such dramatic improvements are hard-won and usually driven by significant policy changes. What were those changes and how did New Mexico improve so quickly?

There wasn’t really a dramatic improvement in New Mexico’s childhood poverty. Lujan Grisham is conflating two different data sets in hopes that the compliant media won’t question her.

So, what’s going on? Simply put, there are two poverty measures produced by the Census Bureau. One of those, the official poverty measure, has been used since the 1960s. It compares pretax income to standard thresholds based on family size. The other, known as the supplemental poverty measure, accounts for government transfer payments and includes variation based on the different costs of living in different parts of the country.

Lujan Grisham has repeatedly (not just on MSNBC) conflated the two measures. She has used the fact that New Mexico ranks 50th in the official measure and 17th in the supplemental measure to claim that transfer payment policies put in place by the Biden administration and the state government have reduced child poverty.

The official poverty measure attempts to place all American families on a statistically even playing field while the supplemental poverty measure represents a worthwhile attempt to factor in variables like cost of living and government transfer payments.

Each poverty measure has its pluses and minuses in understanding real conditions, but for a politician to conflate the two to claim such vast improvement based on her policies is nothing more than a sad attempt to cover her abject failure to improve child poverty.

The defeat of Kamala Harris keeps Lujan Grisham out of Washington for the time being. She was widely reported as being a potential secretary of health and human services in a Harris administration. New Mexicans, who live in one of America’s poorest states, may not see that as good news.

Paul J. Gessing is the president of the Rio Grande Foundation, a think tank based in Albuquerque, N.M. @pgessing