The following chart was recently published in the Wall Street Journal.  While Biden (and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland) hasn’t completely banned oil and gas leases on federal lands as he pledged during the campaign, he certainly has been excessively stingy.

Gas prices have come down from their early summer highs, but the Biden Administration has done nothing to help the cause. As I wrote when the leasing moratorium was first announced, the lack of federal leasing will impact New Mexico more than any other state (over time).

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Albuquerque area ophthalmologist Kenneth Adams about New Mexico’s doctor shortage. We discuss what attracted him to New Mexico from Texas in the first place. What keeps him here? What are some things that make New Mexico an unattractive state to practice medicine in? What could make things better? Don’t miss this timely conversation!

Sometimes statistics on New Mexico just blow you away. A report from World Population Review highlights states based on welfare recipients per population for 2022. The surprising thing isn’t that New Mexico is at the top of the list. What’s amazing is how big it’s lead is relative to states.

In fact, based on the data below New Mexico’s rate of welfare receipt is 23% higher than the next highest state. Rarely do such massive differences exist when comparing the 50 states, let alone on a critical issue like welfare.

If there is one statistic that highlights the difficulty Republicans face in gaining traction here in New Mexico, this might be it. With such an outsized proportion of the population receiving government handouts, who wants limited government?

As the report notes, the United States has six major welfare programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income, Earned Income Tax Credit, Housing Assistance, and Medicaid. These six welfare programs are not to be confused with the four entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and worker’s compensation.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Mark Ronchetti is a policy wonk. His education plan spans six pages of detailed proposals. We’ll discuss some of it here in this post.

Incumbent Gov. Lujan Grisham apparently believes she can win another four years in office without telling people what she intends to do. She offers a bit of information on what she’s done in education but fails to account for the numerous challenges of the last four years or New Mexico’s pitiful performance in education.

Ronchetti on the other hand spends 1.5 pages discussing the importance of education, then he addresses learning loss during COVID and some ideas for making up that gap. He wants to cut administration so $$ flow to the classroom, he wants to tangibly increase parental involvement, he wants to enhance intra-district choice although limited to public and charter schools.

Ronchetti further focuses on vocational learning and apprenticeships, emphasizing recruitment and retention of school leaders. He addresses early reading preparation and even pre-K. In conclusion he discusses ways to improve school safety.

We’d like to see Ronchetti focus more attention on funding students directly rather than bureaucracies, but no matter what you think ideologically, Ronchetti and his team have clearly studied NM’s education issues and have put together a detailed plan. MLG offers no serious ideas for getting New Mexico out of 50th (or 51st) in education.

On this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss President Biden’s dark and disturbing speech against Trump and his supporters

Gov. MLG spends $10 million capital outlay dollars for a new abortion clinic in Southern NM:  Also, while Paul reiterates that RGF takes no position on abortion in New Mexico, he frames this move within the context of a new ABQ Journal poll on abortion.

Less than a week after banning gas powered cars California tells Californians NOT to charge their cars due to electricity shortages. As Wally and Paul have recently discussed, 2% of all vehicles on the road in CA are electric. Notably, New Mexico is following these policies, but California recently decided to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open. To date New Mexico appears to have no inclination to keep power flowing from the Palo Verde nuclear plant. 

Dismal education news this week came from two sources.

Lawmakers discuss NM Spaceport and the pipe dream of financial “self-sufficiency” at the facility while Las Cruces area Cervantes contrasts Spaceport w/ Rail Runner and asks the state of New Mexico to pick up the tab.

A new ABQ Journal poll highlights support for a pre-K amendment on the ballot this November, but this is hardly a surprise given the choices.

RGF is participating in an “open house” for the new Moms for Liberty chapter in Bernalillo County. Information can be found below:

Several weeks ago we took a detailed look at Mark Ronchetti’s economic plan. Overall it was very good although we had a few thoughts on improving it (like tackling New Mexico’s top income tax rate).

Admittedly, while we have spent a great deal of time talking about what the incumbent, Michelle Lujan Grisham has done and not done, we hadn’t really thought much about her plans for the economy for a second term. So, we checked out her website. You can click on the graphic below which is what you’ll see if you go to her site.

Alas, but not surprisingly, there’s no “there” there. Clicking on the “economy and jobs” and “money for families and business” gets you a cursory defense of a small sample of what she has done, but ZERO discussion of what she plans to do if re-elected. We have a $2.5 billion surplus, does she want to spend it all or cut taxes? Any plans to FINALLY address the GRT? How about the oil and gas industry that has provided those recent mega-surpluses?

As the campaign for governor heads into its home stretch, what is MLG’s forward-looking plan for New Mexico’s economy?

In this conversation Paul talks to Sarah Jane Allen. Sarah Jane is involved in the formation of a new Moms for Liberty chapter in Bernalillo County. We discuss what the organization is trying to do and some of the important policies they want to address.

Sarah Jane is also involved with New Mexico Alive which brings regular speakers from the State in order for them to share ways they are working to improve life in the Land of Enchantment.

September 1 was a big day for education data. For starters, the Lujan Grisham Administration released data based on its new assessment (which replaced Susana Martinez’s assessment and then was delayed due to COVID). The results are not pretty. A writeup from the Santa Fe New Mexican both highlights the way the test has evolved and the disappointing results.

APS does a decent breakdown by school here, but results are not easy to find on the Public Education Department website. The charts below WERE released by PED, but the full report was hard to find.

In MORE education news, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released  nationwide data for 9 year olds. Sadly, “Average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020. This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics.” (see below NM data).

Though (sadly) not broken out by state the NAEP report highlights how COVID lockdowns and chaos impacted students across the country. Since New Mexico students were locked out of their schools by MLG for over a year (6th-most in the nation) there is no doubt that New Mexico students suffered disproportionately due to lost time in the classroom.

Recently (with potential implications for New Mexico), California’s unelected clean air board decided to ban gas powered cars by 2035 with a rapid ramp-up over the next decade or so.

Interestingly enough, while New Mexico continues to follow California on electric vehicles and a push to “renewables” on the power grid, it seems likely to ALSO follow California to having inadequate electrical power in the near future (especially next summer when the San Juan Generating Station will no longer be available).

August 24: California bans sale of new gasoline-powered cars

August 30: California asks Californians to avoid charging electric vehicles due to electricity shortages pic.twitter.com/OzE3Lw3Nqq

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) August 31, 2022

While the Rio Grande Foundation studiously avoids taking sides in the ongoing battle over abortion policy in New Mexico, it appears that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade reversal New Mexico’s leftist politicians are going “all-in” on the issue by spending YOUR tax dollars in support of abortion.

We covered (and are considering action on) Albuquerque City Council’s $250,000 “donation” to Planned Parenthood earlier this year. Now, with a massive surplus available to her, Gov. Lujan Grisham has decided to allocate $10 million worth of capital outlay to build a state-run abortion clinic in Las Cruces. While full news stories are hard to come by at this point, numerous credible outlets have reported on it. Stay tuned for details on the latest abuse of your tax dollars….

.@GovMLG today signed an executive order that allocates $10 million to build a new clinic that would provide a "full spectrum" of reproductive health care, including #abortion, in Dona Ana County. "The work that we are doing saves women's lives," the governor said. #nmpol

— Daniel Chacon (@danieljchacon) August 31, 2022

The ABQ Journal came out with polling for numerous races including Gov. These polls (and here) with RGF analysis here point to New Mexicans continuing to embrace the same policies and people they have for years. Can Ronchetti and other candidates close the gap?

A new RGF opinion piece takes on NM’s self-inflicted doctor shortage. As bad as this shortage is now, it will get worse once MLG’s medical malpractice kicks in. 

California bans internal combustion engines.

Biden’s student loan boondoggle is awful on so many levels. 

NM’s state government spends the most of any state in the nation. 

As we have noted time and time again, New Mexico’s Spaceport has never lived up to expectations (it will have been open for 11 years this October). And, while the Legislature has generally accepted the continued failure of the promised manned space tourism industry to “take off,” hearings occasionally shed light on the topic.

In this story KOB Channel 4 cites Spaceport personnel claiming that 65% of the Spaceport’s operating expenses are generated by leases and customers. The same article notes that the “Legislature provided about $2 million in general fund dollar.”

So, in addition to the $250 million taxpayers fronted to build the facility, it continues to cost taxpayers millions more to operate annually. And (news flash) it’s not going to be “self sufficient” anytime soon.

And that brings us to Sen. Joe Cervantes’ wish that taxpayers statewide help pay down construction bonds on the white elephant near Truth or Consequences. A regional gross receipts tax, approved in 2009 is levied in Sierra County, but a vast majority of the funding comes from Doña Ana County. According to the New Mexican, “Half of the estimated $250 million investment in the facility came from the Legislature, and the other half is being covered by the (local) gross receipts tax.”

Cervantes took to Twitter to (aptly) compare funding of the two Bill Richardson-era projects the Spaceport and Rail Runner (both of which the Rio Grande Foundation has long-criticized as wasteful boondoggles).

Are you concerned about what is being taught in Albuquerque Public Schools classrooms? How about local private schools? Do you want more education choice? Or, are you interested in finding out more about the new Mom’s For Liberty chapter which will be engaging in education advocacy throughout Bernalillo County?  Perhaps you’d even want to start a chapter elsewhere?

You are invited to attend an education open house. Details and RSVP information on this free event below.

Or you can RSVP Here

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” (New Mexico voters apparently) The source of this quote is often said to be Albert Einstein, but if newly-released polls for New Mexico Gov. and other statewide offices are to be believed, New Mexico voters seem to think that the party that has dominated New Mexico politics since 1929 (the Democrats) is doing a fabulous job.

New Mexico DOES have a massive $2.5 billion surplus thanks largely to the oil and gas industry which many Democrats love to hate and which they would like to get rid of.  I won’t recount all the myriad ways in which New Mexico badly trails other states in terms of policy-influenced outcomes, but it is not pretty. New Mexico trails nearly every other state on most major economic, COVID, education, and crime policies.

Are New Mexicans simply resigned to failing relative to other states? Do they feel comfortable knowing that 40% of the State budget comes from an industry (oil and gas) that the ruling party both in NM and nationally wishes to destroy?

Do they care that young people are moving out of state to find jobs, better schools, and less crime?

Do they care that Michelle Lujan Grisham unnecessarily locked their children out of school for over a year with nothing to show for it  but massive learning loss?

Do they care that New Mexico ALREADY has a doctor shortage and that a newly-passed medical malpractice law will only worsen the situation.

New Mexico is an extremely unique place for many reasons: great weather, beauty, outdoor activities, and culture, but it also seems to have a uniquely-self destructive bent to its politics. None of this is to say that one or the other political party has all the answers, but that over 90 years of single-party legislative rule is not working.

There is a life-or-death issue facing New Mexicans. It has been widely reported on in the media and is important to New Mexicans from all walks of life. Voters will have a lot to say about it this November. The issue is our shortage of medical professionals.

If you live in rural New Mexico you have likely faced severe challenges in finding specialists for years, but according to one recent report, 32 of New Mexico’s 33 counties (excepting Los Alamos) face a shortage of primary care physicians. This doesn’t even consider the shortage of specialists which is even more pronounced in certain fields.

Reports have reiterated the fact that (as our population ages and our doctors age as well), our State faces an even greater need for doctors in the years ahead.

Like most challenges facing New Mexico, poor public policy is a problem. The most obvious reform needed is for the Legislature to repeal HB 75, which passed in the 2021 session and was signed by Gov. Lujan Grisham. Implementation of the law was subsequently delayed, but if it is it will make New Mexico an even less attractive place for doctors to work than it already is, worsening our shortage of medical professionals.

Here are a few details:

The Medical Malpractice Act (HB 75) increased the cap on malpractice lawsuits. That means physicians can be sued for a great deal more for punitive (punishment) damages, up to $4 million. That number rises to $6 million in just a few years. To give a comparison, in doctor-friendly Texas, the cap is limited to $250,000).

Because the cap is so high now, many Insurance Companies won’t cover doctors in private practices that do procedures like colonoscopies or other in-office surgeries. In other words, doctors can’t get malpractice insurance to cover them because they are too risky to insurance companies.

As one prominent Democrat doctor wrote in an article written earlier this year, “Our Governor is aware of the issues, but Democrats are often influenced by the Trial Attorneys because they are big contributors to the Democratic Party and, of course, they stand to gain a whole lot of money from such a large increase in the ‘cap.’

Another self-inflicted misstep that has resulted in a loss of medical professionals is Gov. Lujan Grisham’s vaccine mandate on medical professionals. While specific numbers are hard to come by, it is hard to justify such a mandate given that COVID vaccines have not prevented the spread of COVID. In August 2021 media reports quoted Dr. David Scrase as saying 90% of nurses were vaccinated and roughly 3,000 healthcare workers in New Mexico were unvaccinated.

We don’t know exactly how many medical professionals left New Mexico due to the Gov.’s vaccine mandate, but even a few hundred is far too many. And, the Gov.’s vaccine mandate continues to remain in effect along with her public health orders.

Finally, a simple way to attract more doctors is to stop taxing them. Although often hidden from the public, doctors in New Mexico often must pay gross receipts tax on services provided to Medicaid patients and “fee for service” patients.

Lawmakers recently announced the State has a $2.5 billion surplus headed into the 2023 legislative session. Reform of the gross receipts tax, including repeal of this tax on medical services, is a must that can be done with minimal revenue loss.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates more than 30 percent of New Mexico’s population will be over age 60 by the year 2030, an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2012. All of us need doctors, but as New Mexico ages the need becomes critical. There is no panacea, but these are some of  the worst policy obstacles to attracting medical providers to our State.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is 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

UPDATED: This piece has been updated to reflect that New Mexico has not formally committed itself to adopting California’s new rule.

Today, August 25, 2022, the California Air Resources Board, voted to eliminate the sale of internal combustion engines in the State of California by 2035. Here’s an article about the policy and confirmation that they indeed have enacted it.

How does this apply to New Mexico? As RGF discussed in National Review and other news outlets a few months ago, Gov. Lujan Grisham (acting through an unelected board) has ordered New Mexico to follow California’s “clean car” rules. That means, what California does, we may do the same if MLG wishes to stick with California.

California’s rule also mandates 35% of new vehicles sold in 2026 be zero-emission with increasing percentages each year. In New Mexico during the first quarter of 2022 “electric vehicles” accounted for just 3.66% of new vehicle sales.

So, IF Michelle Lujan Grisham were to be reelected and thus keep New Mexico in lockstep with California, the number of EV’s sold in New Mexico will have to grow 10X as a percent of ALL vehicles sold in just four years.

The Biden Administration recently issued regulations attacking charter schools. The Rio Grande Foundation submitted comments against this attack, but we and other charter advocates were ignored. Caleb Kruckenberg is an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. He is suing the Biden Administration over this issue. Paul and Caleb also discuss the use and abuse of administrative law and how it impacts this and other important public policies.

Today President Biden announced a plan to eliminate $10,000 of debt per borrower for those earning less than $125,000 per year, while those who paid for college using Pell Grants are eligible for a $20,000 loan cancellation. Biden also decided to extend the pause on federal student loan repayment to January 2023 and will permit borrowers with undergraduate loans to cap payments at 5% of monthly income.

This plan is awful for a number of reasons, but here are a few:

1) It’s illegal: Congress holds the “power of the purse.” For a party that so often wraps itself in the banner of “democracy,” the modern Democratic Party LOVES unilateral executive action.

2) It’s expensive: Biden’s plan will cost $298 billion in 2022 and a total of $329 billion by 2031.

3) It’s unfair. While not AS “regressive” as a forgiveness plan lacking income limits, less than 32% of the funding would benefit Americans in the two lowest income quintiles, while 42% would benefit those earning more than $82,400 per year.

4) It’s not fair (part 2). Nearly half of all New Mexicans identify as Hispanic, but according to data from Student Loan Hero, while 20.0% of white families hold student debt only 14.3% of Hispanic families do. Meanwhile, white families owe a median of $23,000 while Hispanic families owe “just” $17,600 .

5) The federal student loan program has contributed greatly to rising college costs. Pouring more tax money into the program will do nothing to change out-of-control college costs in the future.

As November looms and the legislative session follows, policymakers are already working on their “wish lists” for the $2.5 billion in “new money” available (thanks in large part to the booming oil and gas industry). Of course, as data from the website USGovernmentspending.com (below) highlights , in FY 2023 (the current fiscal year), New Mexico State spending consumes a greater percentage of the New Mexico economy than does any other state.

Of course, this is BEFORE what we can only imagine will be another year of massive spending growth for the State.

New Mexico has another very big surplus. What should and shouldn’t be done with the surplus money?

An opinion piece by one “progressive” legislator calls out their Democrat critics calling them ignorant or shills for the rich. We discuss.

NM’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.5% in July and MLG is taking full credit, but New Mexico’s rate remains the highest among US states as it has been for 8 straight months. But, as an RGF opinion piece notes, workforce participation remains an issue and the state must encourage people to work.

PNM hasn’t merged with Avangrid (yet), but their marketing materials seem to have. What’s the deal? Is this even legal?

APS and their union are at an impasse, what does that mean and what are the issues at hand?

There is an issue affecting the health and even lives of tens of thousands of New Mexicans’ on a daily basis. State government policies have a big impact on the issue, but it has been largely ignored in the campaigns to date. The issue is New Mexico’s doctor shortage and the impact of New Mexico’s medical malpractice legislation (HB 75, passed in the 2021 session, but with delayed implementation) which will make New Mexico an even less attractive place for doctors to work than it already is, thus worsening our shortage of medical professionals.

Check out this detailed takedown of the law by an MD writing on a Democratic party website. Here are a few of the highlights:

1) Medical Malpractice Act (HB 75) increased the “cap” on malpractice lawsuits. That means physicians can be sued for a great deal more for punitive (punishment) damages, up to $4 million. That number rises to $6 million in just a few years. To give a comparison, in Texas, the “cap” is limited to $250,000.);

2) Because the “cap” is so high now, many Insurance Companies won’t cover doctors in private practices that do procedures like colonoscopies or other in-office surgeries. In other words, doctors can’t get malpractice insurance to cover them because the risk is too great to the insurance company;

3) Our Governor is well aware of the issues, but Democrats are often influenced by the Trial Attorneys because they are big contributors to the Democratic Party and, of course, they stand to gain a whole lot of money from such a large increase in the “cap”;

4) Because of this law, the physician shortage will get worse if this issue isn’t resolved.

The Legislature desperately needs to address this issue, but at best Lujan Grisham won’t do so before an election for which she needs the Trial Lawyers’ money. At worst, she simply won’t address the issue at all and will let doctors leave New Mexico in droves.

The Albuquerque Teachers Federation is NOT happy. The union has declared an impasse in negotiations with the newly-reconstituted, more parent-driven (as opposed to union-driven) board. According to one union document, “Power was a central theme. Some members of the Board of Education stated we have too much power to make educational decisions for our students. They said we have “taken” their power and it’s the board who should make educational decisions about what and how we teach.”

To be clear, under New Mexico statute, it is clearly state that the School Board “Develop(s) educational policies for the school district.” So, yeah, it IS the Board’s job.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation are still gathering information on this situation, but when it comes to unions, it is indeed ALL ABOUT POWER. Notably, while the APS unions is empowered to negotiate on behalf of ALL district employees, the reality is that less than 50% of eligible APS staff are members of the union. According to data requested from the District, 12,000 APS employees are covered by bargaining agreements but only 5,354 are actually members of the union.

And, if the unions want teachers to have more power over what and how they teach in the classroom, perhaps their work should be measured and (heaven-forbid) their “customers” (families and children) should be empowered to choose the options that work best for them. A captive customer base is certainly not the hallmark of competent, responsible professionals.

How long will this impasse last and what does it mean? It should result in some kind of compromise with a slightly renegotiated agreement. Who controls what is taught in APS classrooms? The APS board is elected by voters while the unions are not. You can watch the APS board meeting after which the “impasse” was declared here. 

The proposed contract can be found here.

New Mexico, fresh off a 15 percent spending increase, has ANOTHER $2.5 billion in “new” money (basically a budget surplus). Who knows what big-spending schemes the Legislature will cook up for the 2023 legislative session? Of course, what happens with that cash depends A LOT on what happens in November.

Here are the top 5 things the Legislature SHOULD do with the money (and a few things to avoid);

1) Address the gross receipts tax and both its “pyramiding” (taxes paid on top of taxes) as well as its taxes on business input services is an ABSOLUTE must. It won’t “cost” much in the grand scheme of things and as analysts told the Legislature recently, it is a big factor holding our state back.

2) AFTER the GRT is reformed, New Mexico should begin phasing down (and out) both personal and corporate income taxes. 9 states currently have NO personal income tax.  The corporate income tax only accounts for $200 million or so annually. It is time to diversify our economy and New Mexico can do so by eliminating the corporate income tax.

3) Pay down pension debt while reforming them AND giving workers freedom to invest their OWN retirement funds. Yes, that’s a lot, but New Mexico’s underfunded pensions are in need of not only more funding, but fundamental transformation. Dumping more tax dollars into them is not a particularly good idea, but paired with needed reforms and increased worker control, this is a worthy approach.

4) Infrastructure: repave our roads and bridges, water projects. While New Mexico roads are ranked okay nationally (despite our dangerous drivers) e all know of certain roads that need to be paved/improved across our State. It is time to get this infrastructure in top shape. Same with water. It is time to make every drop count and explore innovative approaches to improving our future water security.

5) Bring/keep more medical professionals. New Mexico needs more medical professionals. While basic reforms to our new, harmful medical malpractice law are essential, improving Medicaid reimbursement (and ending the GRT on medical services as part of a broader GRT reform) are two ways to make New Mexico a more attractive place for medical providers.

Things we don’t need

1) Another year of massive spending growth. New Mexico’s state spending as a percent of GDP is the highest in the USA in FY 2023 (vastly outpacing its neighbors as seen below). Broad new spending increases are not going to improve our State;

2) Socking the money away: this is only deferred spending growth. New Mexico needs to act prudently with this money to address important policy shortcomings NOW.