Errors of Enchantment

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Arizona continues school choice leadership with universal school choice

06.29.2022

If/when New Mexico Republicans ever have a chance to actually enact public policy in the State of New Mexico, they will have to look no further than Arizona for a model of what to do.

Already a leader in education choice and accountability Arizona has just enacted Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (also known as education savings accounts or ESAs). Prior to enactment of this legislation about a quarter of elementary and secondary students in Arizona were eligible for an ESA, including students with special needs, students assigned to low-performing district schools, the children of active-duty military personnel, and a few other categories of students. all K-12 students.

Once the new legislation is implemented, ALL Arizona students will be eligible to receive 90% of the state portion of Arizona’s per-pupil funding, including the additional funds for students with special needs in order to find the educational options that make sense for themselves and their families.

The following is a comparison of 4th grade reading scores from the “Nation’s Report Card” (NAEP). As recently as 2007 New Mexico actually outperformed Arizona, but as the State’s reforms have taken hold and New Mexico has stood pat the gap has grown between the two. AZ is now at 216 and NM’s average is 208.

New Mexico among 15 states still in COVID “emergency”

06.29.2022

Gov. Lujan Grisham’s latest health order expires on July 15. Of course, there is no sign that she will end her order until she leaves office as there has been an uptick in COVID cases in recent weeks.

While most parts of New Mexico show few signs of being in an “emergency” UNM is now “recommending” masks indoors. That could easily change this fall.

New Mexico remains one of 15 states  in an emergency under state law according to the National Association of State Health Boards. See the map below. While it tilts toward states with Democrat governors (including otherwise conservative Kansas and North Carolina), but Alaska, West Virginia, Georgia, and Texas all continue to be in an “emergency.”

Tipping Point NM episode 415: Supreme Court, Gas Tax, Pay for Protection and more

06.29.2022

Paul and Wally begin by discussing the political implications of the Roe v. Wade decision for New Mexico and the Gov’s race. Will it prevent a “red wave?”

10 years ago Chief Justice John Roberts handed down a convoluted decision upholding “ObamaCare” in the NFIB v. Sebelius decision.

Rep. Leger Fernandez “finally” updates her website after RGF called her out on it.

RGF’s column on pre-K runs throughout NM.

Will Biden suspend the gas tax? Is this a good idea? 

Mayor Keller: Businesses should pay twice for more policing.

NM is one of 15 states still under an emergency order.

 

No pandemic learning loss in Sweden during the pandemic (unlike New Mexico)

06.28.2022

Remember when Sweden (and Swedish schools) remained open while New Mexico and many other “blue” states shut down, including schools during the COVID pandemic? We do. Nonetheless, Michelle Lujan Grisham shut the schools down for over a year costing our children dearly, a mistake that one researcher told the New York Times was “the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation.”

Now, research (click on the image below) finds that Swedish children experienced NO learning loss during the pandemic. Below that is the sorry tale from New Mexico (again, click the pictures for source).

Oh, and Sweden’s death rate from COVID was lower than the US as a whole and about half of New Mexico’s rate.

 

When looking at reading scores by state, all but six states saw a decrease in students hitting a state-set landmark. The poor reading marks indicate that students, especially younger ones, are still struggling, with a median student-growth percentile of 35, showing very low growth

The math exam saw students perform similarly, with 10 states slightly rising above the 50 mark - Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Vermont, and North and South Dakota

10 years ago: SCOTUS/John Roberts upheld ObamaCare

06.28.2022

Ten years ago, June 28, 2012, the US Supreme Court and John Roberts used some complicated mental gymnastics to declare ObamaCare a “tax” in the interests of not overturning it.

While ObamaCare DID expand the number of people on Medicaid, but as the Reason article linked above notes, “The outcome of that case has shaped both the health law’s evolution and its public perception, leaving Americans with a major federal program that even its fiercest advocates say does not live up to its goals.”

Notably, while then Gov. Susana Martinez (a Republican) made the disappointing but understandable decision of expanding Medicaid, numerous states have not. These include some of the fastest growing states in the nation (like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee) as the following from Kaiser Family Foundation highlights.

RGF column: N.M. should think twice about universal pre-K

06.27.2022

This piece ran in the Santa Fe New Mexican on June 25.

As we move beyond a contentious series of primaries in both parties and look to the fall election, one of the big issues on the fall ballot is the plan to “tap” New Mexico’s permanent fund to provide universal preschool. For years this has been an agenda item for the State’s left-leaning interest groups. But it only received legislative support with the retirement of Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith.

This November voters will decide whether to “allocate 1.25 percent of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education.” The Legislative Finance Committee estimates that the additional allocation would be about $245.7 million in fiscal year 2023. Of that total, $126.9 million would be allocated for early childhood education, $84.6 million to public education, and $34.2 million for the Land Grant Permanent Fund’s other beneficiaries.

The plan is to provide “free,” “universal” pre-K to all New Mexico 3- and 4-year-olds.

Advocates and supporters tout all kinds of supposed benefits of government-funded pre-K, but the best available study of the issue (involving a randomized control) of a similar program that has been in place since 2005 in Tennessee found pre-K had negative impacts on children.

According to the study undertaken by Vanderbilt University, “Children who attended Tennessee’s state-funded voluntary pre-K program during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years were doing worse than their peers by the end of sixth grade in academic achievement, discipline issues and special education referrals. The trend emerged by the end of third grade and was even more pronounced three years later.”

One of the study authors, Dale Farran of Vanderbilt’s Peabody College said of the results, “The kinds of pre-K that our poor children are going into are not good for them long-term.” Furthermore, “[We] have let ourselves get into the idea that what these children need is a lot more academic instruction. … It’s just the opposite. What you would like to give poor children is a feeling of being cared for and being successful.”

While other pre-K studies often seem to show positive results from massive government “investment” in pre-K programs, few of those studies feature a control group. In other words, most studies look at two different groups whose parents chose pre-K and those who didn’t choose it and compare the results. That mostly shows parents who choose pre-K tend to place a high value on education. That skews the results in favor of the programs. There are much more sensible and cost-effective alternatives to “universal” taxpayer-funded pre-K. This might include a system of voluntary home visits for purposes of helping parents learn to be better parents. Alas, those don’t come with a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy and expansion of employment opportunities for teachers.

Unfortunately, the ballot presents a simple “Yes” or “No” option for voters. It is difficult to mount an effective campaign against a ballot measure when the alternative is essentially “do nothing.”

This is just one of the flaws in our state’s numerous “permanent” funds, including the Land Grant Permanent Fund, created in 1893, long before New Mexico became a state. Dedicated funding for beneficiaries may seem like a good thing, but giving government bureaucrats a dedicated stream of money without real accountability or the ability for policymakers to shift resources when needs change is far from ideal.

In Tennessee, where again pre-K was found to have negative outcomes, pre-K is funded by a combination of lottery revenue and general education funds. Sadly, putting pre-K funding on autopilot as New Mew Mexico’s constitutional amendment proposes is even less likely to lead to quality outcomes and accountable results for our children.

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.

Biden/Haaland vs. government transparency

06.24.2022

Government transparency is good, right? Unfortunately, the Biden/Haaland Department of Interior would rather the public not have access to certain information on settlements and consent decrees between the government and outside interest groups.

Alas, while government transparency sometimes doesn’t seem to have a clear, immediate impact on public policy, Biden’s push for LESS transparency is designed to benefit radical environmental groups that they wish to be able to make deals with their former colleagues (now in government) and not tell anybody about it.

As William Perry Pendley, the Trump-era director of the Bureau of Land Management said, “There is money going to groups that are turning around and using that money to fund litigation to again sue their former colleagues who are now in office.”

The more transparent system was put in place by the Trump Administration. New Mexico’s Deb Haaland continues to “lead” the Department of Interior.

Biden Admin Quietly Nukes Trump-Era 'Transparency' Initiative Tracking Settlements And Payouts To Left-Wing Activists | The Daily Caller

Episode 414: Alexis Martinez Johnson, candidate for New Mexico Congressional District 3

06.23.2022

On this week’s podcast conversation Paul is joined by Alexis Martinez Johnson. Alexis is running for congress in New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district. The District, currently occupied by “freshman” Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez used to be a “safe” Democrat seat, but with redistricting it is now a much more competitive seat. Paul talks to Alexis about her background, why she decided to run for office, and some of the important issues she is running on in this newly-competitive district.

What’s Rep. Leger Fernandez doing these days?

06.23.2022

Recently Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing sat down with Republican challenger Alexis Martinez Johnson to discuss the race in New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional district. You can find that interview here. We have extended the same offer to Leger Fernandez and would love to talk to her.

However, in searching on her website, we noted that (as of this post on June 23, 2022), the most recent posts on the economy or energy (two of THE most critical issues facing the United States and New Mexico at this time) have not been updated since November of 2021. She’s apparently done nothing on those issues in more than 6 months!

Leger Fernandez touts the Biden Administration’s failed big-spending “Build Back Better” legislation, but it’s been crickets since then as can be seen in the screenshots from her official website (below).

Interestingly, CD 3 is arguably the GOP’s best chance to grab a majority of New Mexico’s congressional seats. As the following analysis from Nate Silver shows, CD 3 is now considered “highly competitive” with a +5 Democrat lean as opposed to a +4 for Herrell and a +11 for Stansbury.

Suspending gas tax is fine, but not a real solution

06.22.2022

Numerous news reports indicate that President Biden will suspend the federal gas tax for three months. The tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and (if suspended) would likely result in a similar drop in gas prices nationwide.

This is fine. In other words, we won’t complain about a temporary reduction in the gas tax even as the federal government is $30 trillion in debt. But, the gas tax has been at this rate for many years and it (like Biden’s allegations of sudden greed of oil companies) isn’t the cause of today’s high prices. A Yahoo News story cites four problems with a temporary suspension of the tax (including the fact that numerous Democrats, including Speaker Pelosi, are unlikely to support it).

Rather, the problem of high gas prices arose from the Biden Administration’s anti-energy rhetoric and policies. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland who controls millions of acres of energy rich federal lands has continued to restrict drilling on those lands while also raising taxes on production.

Biden to urge Congress to suspend gas tax for three months | US news | The Guardian

The following from our friends at Power the Future further highlights the issue:

Mayor Keller’s latest plan: downtown businesses pay twice for policing

06.22.2022

Albuquerque Mayor Keller has announced that he’ll increase the police presence downtown and introduce more proactive policing practices which are long overdue. All for the good, right? Not so fast.

What’s the problem? The Mayor is asking business and property owners to pay even more (above and beyond their taxes) for what SHOULD be a basic government service. And the city has more than enough money to fund this program.

According to KOAT Channel 7, “The city has roughly $90,000 to fund the program, $15,000 of which came from PNM. The rest was through donations through the One Albuquerque Fund.

That money is enough to fund the program through the summer. They hope business owners get behind it and help bankroll it.”

Ironically, the City of Albuquerque’s latest budget represents a 20% increase. And, of course part of that budget was a $250,000 “no strings attached” donation to Planned Parenthood which would more than pay for this program if the City allocated funds to actual needs rather than funding favored political organizations and other wasteful programs.

It would be one thing to ask businesses to step up if the City were in a budget crisis, but the City is ALSO paying $3 million this year for “free” buses. Clearly, policing downtown (or anywhere else) is not a high priority.

APD arrests teen for deadly shooting in downtown Albuquerque - KOB.com

Episode 413: Close Governor’s Race, Unemployment, Homelessness Issues and more

06.21.2022

The first polling on New Mexico’s Gov. race is out. No matter who you believe, the race is very close.

Paul was recently in Southeast New Mexico for several events. He also sat down with the Current-Argus to discuss the SE NM economy which is booming. While New Mexico’s economy is strong and plenty of jobs are available, the May state unemployment rates are out and for the 6th month in a row New Mexico has the highest rate. New Mexico’s unemployment rate is down to 5.1%.

Paul also met with Pastor Mark Green to discuss the homeless situation. Paul and Pastor Green had an interesting conversation that can be watched here.

The rain may have put out most of New Mexico’s awful forest fires, but the scars literally and figuratively remain. Even liberals acknowledge that the far-off federal government is a poor manager of the land.

Joining NM Senator Martin Heinrich, Joe Biden is coming after your gas furnace.

In order to conserve natural gas Germany is ramping up coal-fired electricity production.

Paul recently appeared in KOAT TV channel 7 on two issues dealing with the City of Albuquerque. New fees and the Council’s no-strings-attached “grant” to Planned Parenthood. 

Finally, the Albuquerque Schools’ per person budget is $27,000 per student.

Biden’s (and Sen. Heinrich’s) morally dubious solar panel tariff decision

06.21.2022

The Rio Grande Foundation is a steadfast supporter of free trade. And, arguably, the Biden Administration struck a blow in support of freer trade by eliminating tariffs on solar panels from China. Senator Martin Heinrich certainly was pleased with the decision when it was made.

Of course, “free” trade would also be backed up by a freer energy market without subsidies and other mandates in support of solar energy at the expense of taxpayers and rate payers. And, when it comes to China there are serious, credible allegations of force labor and genocide.

Robert Bryce, an energy expert writing in Newsweek, makes a compelling case that Biden’s decision is problematic: “In Pandering to the Green Left, Biden Is Underwriting China’s Genocide of Uyghurs.”

A US Treasury report cited by Bryce which was published by the Biden Administration in 2021 noted that China “dominates global solar supply chains and mounting evidence indicates that solar products and inputs at nearly every step of the production process, from raw silicon material mining to final solar module assembly, are linked to known or probably forced labor programs.”

As Bryce notes, Biden, Heinrich, and the environmental left are simply making the policy determination that “solar is so important that it requires us to ignore China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, along with the industry’s near-total reliance on Chinese suppliers for the critical commodities needed to produce solar panels.”

US Supreme Court: states can’t discriminate against religious schools in choice programs

06.21.2022

The US Supreme Court has ruled in Carson v. Makin that states that allow funding to flow to private non-religious schools cannot prohibit funds from also flowing to religious schools. This was a 6-3 decision with Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer dissenting.

The Court’s decision seems intuitive enough. Separation of church and state has never meant discriminating against religious institutions when they are in the same space (like education) with non-religious and public players.

As National Review columnist Dan Maclaughlin wrote in his column (linked above), “Allowing students to take state aid to a religious school on the same terms as a secular school does not establish a church, any more than allowing them to use Pell Grants at a religious college or, for that matter, allowing people to buy Bibles with their Social Security checks, establishes a state church.”

So, this is another baby-step towards broader legal acceptance of school choice. All we need in New Mexico is the political courage to actually enact such programs.

Albuquerque Public Schools’ new budget pushes per-pupil spending above $27,000

06.20.2022

The Rio Grande Foundation has been tracking per-pupil spending at Albuquerque Public Schools for several years. We use the simple mathematical technique of dividing the total annual budget by the number of students in the district, a number which has declined dramatically in recent years.

Most APS budgets are here while the 2023 data comes from the following Albuquerque Journal article. There was no APS budget in FY 2021 so we attempted to calculate based on recent trends.

On a PER PUPIL basis, APS spends 64% MORE in FY 2023 than it did in FY 2019.

Lefty journalism group acknowledges acts “Forest Service acts as feudal lord”

06.17.2022

Recently at RGF we noted the long standing problems with the US federal government’s management of New Mexico lands. This, in light of the forest fires that continue to rage throughout our State.

We were surprised to find this article from the lefty journalism outfit Searchlight New Mexico which included several interviews with people throughout the fire-ravaged regions of our State. The article actually does a good job of bringing attention to the fact that the federal government undertook a massive land grab and has, over the years, removed more and more land from local uses and control.

Here is another choice quote from the article which is worth a read.

We have long argued that the federal government is captured by radical environmentalists and cannot change its approach and thus should devolve management of most Forest Service and BLM lands to New Mexico. We worked with then New Mexico legislator Yvette Herrell on the issue. Alas, getting the federal government to give up its grip on Western lands is a generational challenge. Many Northern New Mexicans clearly understand that Washington is a bad landlord.

Rio Grande Foundation hits KOAT TV to discuss City Council grant to Planned Parenthood

06.15.2022

Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing recently sat down with KOAT Channel 7 to discuss the recent “no-strings-attached” made by Albuquerque’s City Council to Planned Parenthood.” Whatever one’s views on abortion, it is hugely problematic that City Council has “donated” $250,000 to an activist political organization that actively involves itself in political campaigns.

Story linked above or click on photo below:

Talking Homelessness with Pastor Mark Green of Roswell’s Harvest Ministries

06.15.2022

Dealing with the homeless situation is challenging. It is a problem in Albuquerque as well as numerous other major American cities. Paul recently sat down with Pastor Mark Green who runs a homeless relief ministry in Roswell. He has a worked with the homeless for years and has some interesting ideas on how to help them and keep them out of public spaces and from taking grocery carts. Even the Department of Corrections could play a role.

Check out this short conversation:

NM Environment Department (under the Gov.’s control) gives award to legislator(s)

06.14.2022

You never know what you’ll find on social media. The following is a Facebook post from New Mexico Senator Siah Correa Hemphill, a Democrat. Interestingly, she is touting an award she received for “supporting the Gov.’s initiatives.”

MLG has never been much for separation of powers considering her ongoing use of New Mexico’s “emergency” laws which have been renewed time and again without legislative participation. Now, the New Mexico Environment Department (under the Gov.’s control) is apparently giving awards to friendly legislators who carry the Gov.’s water on various environmental issues.

Tipping Point NM Episode 411: ABQ Homeless “Safe Spaces”, Does New Mexico have an Education Secretary? and more

06.14.2022

Ronchetti wins. Paul & Wally discuss that outcome and other races; Paul recently traveled to Florida for an event with anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist. He discusses the national scene;

Common Cause supports New Mexico’s awful judicial election process. Paul and Wally discuss their issues with it.

ABQ City Council embraces “safe spaces.” Progressive former mayoral candidate Pete Dinelli is spot-on regarding local parks: 

Inflation hits 8.6%, highest in four decades.  The average US gas price hits $5/gallon. 

A new study finds high gas prices hit rural, poor the most (duh). Speaking of inflation, Paul recently spoke to KOAT channel 7 about trash, water, and power fees going up in Albuquerque.

Biden visited New Mexico to offer aid to forest fire victims. A lefty news site actually goes behind the headlines and talks to Northern New Mexicans frustrated by Forest Service mismanagement.

In a seeming conflict of interest, NM Environment Department (headed by MLG) gives out awards to friendly legislators.

Does New Mexico have an education secretary? It is hard to say.

RGF calls out “fee” hikes at CABQ, elsewhere

06.13.2022

We all know prices are skyrocketing as inflation takes hold of the United States economy. We also know that the State of New Mexico and City of Albuquerque have massively increased spending in their latest budgets (well beyond the rate of inflation).

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that government, especially the City, is interested in keeping overall costs and fees down for those paying the bills. RGF’s Paul Gessing spoke to KOAT Channel 7 to discuss the increased costs on your water, trash, and power bills.

ABQ Council embraces “safe outdoor spaces” but will Keller get the homeless out of parks, rights of way?

06.09.2022

After a lengthy and contentious meeting of Albuquerque’s City Council on Monday night a bare majority of 5 councilors embraced “Safe Outdoor Spaces” for the homeless. These are meant to be semi-permanent but secure and functional on-site restrooms and shower facilities.

The impact of this idea has been implemented in Las Cruces and Denver (see detailed information and video here) to name just two places. We all HOPE that these sanctioned encampments will improve the situation, but they could just as easily provide even more of a magnet for so-called “homeless” from other areas.

Pete Dinelli, a strongly liberal former candidate for mayor had an excellent piece questioning why Mayor Keller doesn’t force these campers out of parks. We’d only add that the need to be pushed out of public rights-of-way. Generally speaking, Albuquerque should NOT be a welcoming place for those who are unwilling or unable to accept housing that has been made available.

MORE facilities for the so-called “homeless” won’t solve the problem absent more enforcement. We’ll see if Mayor Keller is willing to do that.

Camp Hope helps Las Cruces homeless population prepare for winter weather (kfox14/cbs4) photo 2

Defending New Mexico’s judicial elections process?

06.08.2022

New Mexico’s primaries are in the books. Do you remember voting for the judges?  Do you recognize the names on the ballot and know what they stand for? Were there any contested races? You probably answered “no” to most of those questions. That is not good.

Leave it up to the left-wingers at Common Cause to be perhaps the only people in our State who believe our State’s approach to judicial elections is working. Of course, their justification is that the elections are “clean” insofar as the funding for those campaigns comes from the taxpayers.

The claim with little justification that the system is a “success.” But, anyone who cares about crime would have to be concerned that our judges don’t do a great job of keeping dangerous criminals off the streets.

New Mexico’s judiciary is also considered anti-business. While that MAY reflect the broader political status of the State, it would be nice to have judicial candidates able to run actual campaigns on their positions. This kind of issue-based campaigning is limited in New Mexico. 

Finally, while voters tend to be moderately informed based on a combination of advertising and partisan identification, that is not always available to judicial candidates in New Mexico. So, around election day each year we at the Rio Grande Foundation often received questions regarding the merits of “non-partisan” judicial candidates about whom little is known.

What’s the solution? It would seem that more political advertising and enhancing rather than limiting the ability of judicial candidates to campaign on “tough on crime” or some broad policy reforms would be the best approach, but we  are open to any ideas that would increase openness and result in a better-informed electorate.

Judicial Elections Are a Mess—Here's How to Fix the Problem

Republicans get their man: Ronchetti

06.07.2022

As the votes come in on Tuesday night for Republicans  in the race for Gov. and other big races throughout New Mexico, the media has called the race for Mark Ronchetti in what appears to be an overwhelming victory. As of 8:25 in the evening he has 60% of the vote in a five person race.

The primary was hard-fought and more divisive than it had to be. In the view of RGF’s Paul Gessing, all of the candidates were firmly in the “center-right” of the GOP both here in New Mexico and nationwide. Unfortunately, especially in light of the final results, the race got much nastier than it needed to when the goal (shared almost universally by GOP voters as well as many independents and moderate Democrats) is to rid New Mexico of Michelle Lujan Grisham.

So, will the vanquished GOP primary rally around Ronchetti? Will voters? It is hard to say. New Mexico’s GOP is a fractious and fractured bunch, but a lot of New Mexicans believe that failure to defeat an unpopular left-wing governor with an unpopular president in the White House will threaten their ability to EVER win statewide races in New Mexico. We shall see.