When it suits special interest groups (in this case the New Mexico United soccer team), the way taxpayer dollars can be used is often molded to their benefit. Often this involves capital outlay vs. operating budgets which usually DO get separated, but there is also the “anti-donation clause” which was supposed to be an anti-corporate-welfare clause when inserted into New Mexico’s Constitution (now it is toothless except when NOT used for corporate welfare).

The United’s PAC has been making the case that of all things gross receipts tax revenues CAN’T be used to hire more police officers. This is crazy and the Rio Grande Foundation connected the two issues in an ABQ Journal article over a month ago.

According to the Journal’s editorial (linked above) the payments on just the $50 million stadium bond (not to mention additional millions and future maintenance) are expected to cost $3.2 million every year for 20 years (that’s already $64 million, btw).

You can hire a lot of extra cops with that money.

RGF’s Paul Gessing had a short conversation with (former) NMSU law professor about his firing for not obeying the University’s mask and vaccine mandates:



Paul and Wally discuss the “news of the week.”


Recently RGF co-sponsored a luncheon with the New Mexico Chapter of the Federalist Society entitled, “2nd Amendment as Tyranny Control.” Paul interviewed University of Wyoming professor George Mocsary here.

According to this from Forbes Magazine, the Biden Administration wants to snoop directly into your bank accounts. The provision described below is contained in the so-called American Families Plan.

Not only would this initiative basically eliminate any semblance of financial privacy, it would also require a massive and costly enforcement mechanism on the part of the financial services industry.

We had missed this component in what had otherwise simply been another massive $1.8 trillion spending boondoggle. Allowing the IRS to snoop in Americans’ bank accounts (more than they already do) is definitely another concern with this misguided legislation.

Recently we were sent a link to a new report from the folks at Choose Energy. The analysis shows how each state generates its electricity and how much is generated. We compared New Mexico with a few of its neighbors as well as California which is pursuing similar policies. You can see these data below and the full report above.

Here are a few interesting insights:

1. It is shocking how little electricity California generates considering that it’s population is 25% higher. This means California must import a lot of electricity from other states (including New Mexico).
2. New Mexico could certainly do wonders for its electricity generation mix by adopting nuclear energy, but the Energy Transition Act does not consider nuclear “clean.” Even natural gas is underutilized in New Mexico. For some time New Mexico will continue to rely on coal especially considering PNM’s concerns about shutting down San Juan Generating Station next June. 

The following appeared on Sep. 16, 2021 at KRWG.

The news that New Mexico’s oil and gas industry has again generated record-breaking revenues for the State was welcomed by policymakers and interest groups alike. But the disconnect between the State budget picture and the economic situation for average New Mexicans could not be starker. And this is one of the “problems” associated with the state’s dependence on oil and gas.

Don’t get me wrong: we at the Rio Grande Foundation fully support the oil and gas industries. The so-called “progressive” Democrats in the Legislature who signed a letter to the Biden Administration earlier this year in support of the Administration’s illegal moratorium on new permits on federal lands definitely believe oil is a curse. We believe that New Mexicans are the recipients of a fabulous gift and that there is no reason for us to be among the poorest states in the nation as is currently the case.

New Mexico is “cursed” by bad politicians, not by its bountiful resources. But those resources all too often prop up bad decisions made by our political leaders. Until voters hold them accountable, New Mexico, blessed as it is by nature, will continue to founder.

Our poverty contrasts with our resource wealth in the same way as the new revenue picture contrasts with the state’s outsized unemployment rate. At 7.6 percent, New Mexico has the 2nd-highest jobless rate in the nation. It is not entirely surprising that our workforce participation rate which measures the percentage of people actually engaged in gainful work, also lags badly.

New Mexico’s poverty rate is high (3rd-worst in the nation) and according to the US Census Bureau the state badly lagged its region in population growth over the past decade. We were named the number one “economically-failing” state another recent report and the “progressive” Voices for Children’s own report ranks us a dismal 49th.

It’s not a lack of money or government spending. Government in New Mexico is already bigger than it is in our neighboring states by quite a bit and our faster-growing neighbors spend much of their money on state/local government than we do. It is anathema to New Mexico’s “progressives,” but it is time to return a healthy chunk of this surplus to the private sector.

The low-hanging fruit and an absolute “must” for the 2022 legislative session is reform of our state’s onerous, business-killing, and regressive Gross Receipts Tax (GRT). This regressive tax directly and unnecessarily impedes the growth of small businesses in our state. Reforming the GRT to eliminate taxes on business inputs is a must this session. It can be done with relatively minimal revenue reductions, but, reducing high GRT rates would be a welcome move.

Social security tax reform has also been discussed in recent years. The tax brings in approximately $85 million annually. Eliminating it would make New Mexico a more attractive destination for retirees.

Finally, while it is a bit of a stretch for such a left-leaning body, New Mexico could do a lot to make itself more attractive as a business destination by simply doing away with its corporate income tax. The tax generates about $130 million annually or about 1/10th of next year’s surplus. This is eminently “do-able” and when combined with long-overdue GRT reform would go a long way to getting New Mexico’s economy moving again.

New Mexico’s Democrat-controlled legislature has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use this windfall to diversify New Mexico’s economy. If they fail, voters must hold them accountable.

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

As has been widely reported, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla recently set up shop on the Nambé Pueblo near Santa Fe. The company which typically sells its cars directly to consumers had been unable to do this directly under New Mexico Law.

Curiously this move drew praise from Gov. Lujan Grisham who has in the past supported legislation to repeal New Mexico’s ban on direct-to-consumer vehicle sales. Environmental groups which like electric vehicles also cheered the move.

At the Rio Grande Foundation we agree that direct-to-consumer car sales should NOT be banned by the State. And, while tribal sovereignty is also a mixed bag (tax differences lead to high rates of cigarette smuggling in NM and loss of gas tax revenues due to sales on tribal lands), we’d love to see Native tribes and pueblos consider additional options for policy competition with the State.

Once upon a time (until NM did it) tribes could have made a mint on marijuana legalization. They still could if they got rid of government red tape and allowed free market health care to flourish. What are some ways YOU think tribes and pueblos might use their sovereignty to compete with the State?

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham fancies her state to be like California. It HAS trended “deep blue” in recent years, but her “Energy Transition Act” is arguably her marquee “progressive”/environmental accomplishment. The law dramatically shifts New Mexico electricity production to so-called “renewables” in the years to come, but more immediately shuts down the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (owned by PNM) by June of 2022 or next summer.

New Mexico’s law (alongside California’s plan to eliminate electricity from fossil fuels) reflects the “cutting edge” of environmental policy in the US, but California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that the State would be building at least FIVE NEW “temporary” natural gas-fueled electricity generation plants  in order to avoid blackouts. The plants will cost $171.5 million each. 

As THIS report notes, California had been in the process of shutting down existing natural gas plants including some that had opened in 2009. With New Mexico’s PNM utility saying blackouts and brownouts are imminent upon the shuttering of San Juan Generating Station next June, will Gov. MLG risk blackouts or brownouts just a few months before her reelection?

Oh, and Sen. Martin Heinrich will NOT be happy!

At the Gessing household (located in Albuquerque) which includes two dogs, the supply of thin plastic bags is almost gone. The City’s bag ban took effect once again on August 1 after having been waived since early on in the pandemic. Between trash can liners and pet waste pick up, our thin plastic bags disappear quickly.

Joline Gutierrez Krueger is a reliably left-wing columnist at the ABQ Journal, but even she asks some uncomfortable questions in a recent article. The thicker bags (which remain legal) are, as  Krueger notes, are “made with even more plastic (than the thin ones).” And, “The thicker bags, the (environmental) groups say, take longer to decompose and introduce even more toxic chemicals into the environment.”

The columnist rightly notes (as reflected by Gessing’s own experience in attempting to reuse the thicker, more environmentally-damaging bags,

These (thicker) bags are no substitutes for the thinner bags, which were handy as bathroom wastebasket liners, kitty litter disposal and dog poop collecting. Opponents of bag bans say consumers are now buying small bags for those tasks, thus rendering bag bans senseless since they ultimately bring more plastic into the environment.

And plastic bags are not acceptable under the city’s recycling program.

How does any of this make sense?

We agree! What’s the upshot? We’ll push the new City Council and (hopefully) mayor to repeal this ill-conceived ban. But, in the near term it means a big grocery/bag re-stocking trip grocery shopping in (bag ban free) Rio Rancho this weekend.

On this week’s interview podcast, Paul talks with Karen Bedonie. Bedonie is running for Governor of New Mexico. Paul and Karen discuss her background and what caused her to run for office. They also discuss many of the problems and issues facing New Mexico and how Karen believes her background and experience provide a unique perspective to solve these problems.

You can learn more about Karen Bedonie’s campaign at www.bedonietough.com.

Yesterday President Biden announced that his Administration would be imposing a sweeping vaccine mandate impacting 100 million Americans. For the record, the Rio Grande Foundation supports vaccines for COVID 19 and other diseases, but we are deeply concerned about government mandating their usage for several reasons.

According to the Associated Press, “The expansive rules mandate that ALL employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Biden is also requiring vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out.” The mandate will be promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which is a rare and interesting move.

Legally, while vaccine mandates have indeed been upheld in courts, the case for a presidentially-imposed vaccine mandate is questionable.

Also, there is no consideration for natural immunity on the part of those who have had the virus. It would seem that this mandate is less about safety than about forced compliance.

Finally, while there are NUMEROUS practical and legal problems with this mandate, it is interesting to note how Biden and the Democrats’ selectively use “equity” and “disparate impact.” Both of those terms point to equal outcomes among the races regardless of other factors. Black and Hispanic Americans are the most likely groups to be unvaccinated.  When they lose their jobs for lack of a vaccine it would seem that civil rights lawsuits would be filed.

Aside from the constitutional problems with his mandate, the unions have every reason to push back against this arbitrary change to their prior contracts (both federal and private sector unions). Finally, vaccine card fraud, already an issue, will undoubtedly kick into high gear.

Charles Sullivan is a friend of the Rio Grande Foundation and has appeared on our Tipping Point New Mexico podcast multiple times. He recently had an opinion piece published in the Albuquerque Journal that asked some very pertinent questions about the stadium proposal. These reflect some questions that RGF has been asking as well.

The highlights of Sullivan’s article appear below:

Paul’s trip to Florida for the State Policy Network Conference. He reports from the free state.

Will TV man and former US Senate candidate run for Gov.? There have been rumblings that he will. 

More on the flood of revenue to the State including early childhood fund.

Despite all the revenue legislators are STILL considering tax hikes.

Deb Haaland has a maskless wedding.  A government watchdog is looking into possible improper gifts.

David Scrase wants more COVID testing of kids. Is this really a good idea?

International Balloon Fiesta to require masks, but not vaccines. With all the pressure put on them by MLG, it seems the Fiesta has chosen the most reasonable path.

Virgin Galactic faces more delays. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was grounding all Virgin Galactic flights until further notice, pending the results of the investigation into the company’s July 11 crewed flight. It was recently uncovered that the spaceplane deviated its trajectory outside of cleared airspace.

Public financing in Albuquerque is a debacle and needs to be abolished.

APS holds off on charter moratorium. Hopefully, the NEW board elected this November will be pro-charter.

Wife of an injured police officer calls out Chief Medina and Mayor Keller. 

New Mexico’s legislators will have record revenues to spend ($8.8 billion) when they convene in Santa Fe in January, but that doesn’t mean that they still won’t raise your taxes. As the Santa Fe New Mexican recently reported, several legislators are planning to file legislation to raise taxes on tobacco products in the upcoming session for the ostensible purpose of improving health. There are numerous problems with this approach:

1. Cigarette smoking and vaping are simply NOT the same thing from a health perspective. According to Public Health England, vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. Why treat them the same way policy-wise?
2. New Mexico is already a hub of tobacco smuggling (a problem that would only grow if taxes are raised). According to data from the Mackinac Center 37% of all cigarettes in New Mexico are smuggled, that’s one of the highest rates in the nation.
3. Interestingly, while the three legislators mentioned in the article (as supporting the tax hike) seem implacably opposed to tobacco use, New Mexico just legalized marijuana and two of the three legislators voted FOR that. Sen. Hickey “took a walk” on the vote on marijuana legalization. Supporting pot legalization while pushing to eliminate tobacco (to promote health) certainly raises some interesting questions.
4. Finally, tobacco taxes impact the poor the most. They are extremely “regressive” both in their application and the fact that lower income people smoke tobacco at higher rates than do wealthier New Mexicans.

Recently the Federal Aviation Administration said it was grounding all Virgin Galactic flights until further notice, pending the results of the investigation into the company’s July 11 crewed flight. It was recently uncovered that the spaceplane deviated its trajectory outside of cleared airspace.

Flying outside of approved airspace is a bad thing, but this New Yorker column really sheds some light on the significance of the problems with the July 11 flight and it isn’t pretty (especially within the context of Virgin Galactic’s overall track record). Here is one quote from the report:

The rocket motor on Virgin Galactic’s ship is programmed to burn for a minute. On July 11th, it had a few more seconds to go when a red light also appeared on the console: an entry glide-cone warning. This was a big deal…C. J. Sturckow, a former marine and nasa astronaut, said that a yellow light should “scare the shit out of you,” because “when it turns red it’s gonna be too late”; Masucci was less concerned about the yellow light but said, “Red should scare the crap out of you.”

Furthermore, “An F.A.A. spokesperson confirmed that Virgin Galactic ‘deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance’ and that an ‘investigation is ongoing.’ A Virgin Galactic spokesperson acknowledged that the company did not initially notify the F.A.A. and that the craft flew outside its designated airspace for a minute and forty-one seconds—flights generally last about fifteen minutes—but said that the company was working with the F.A.A. to update procedures for alerting the agency.”

The last pronouncement by Virgin Galactic was that they targeted “late summer” 2022 for their first paid tourist launch. Who knows how long the FAA’s “ongoing investigation” will delay things?

On this week’s interview Paul talks to Michael Farren, he is a Research Fellow with the free-market Mercatus Center a think tank based in the Washington, DC area. Michael and Paul discuss the proposed New Mexico United Stadium and what makes this particular deal especially egregious even among stadium deals.

Here is an article Michael wrote about a similar soccer stadium deal in Iowa that is referenced in the conversation.

Farren has done a great deal of research on public financing of stadiums and broader issues of “corporate welfare.” Michael has recommended an “interstate compact” model for reducing such subsidies.

On this week’s podcast conversation, Paul and Wally start with a bunch of COVID information. First, they discuss a report from the CDC which says kids wearing masks doesn’t work. Former podcast guest David Clements has been fired from NMSU for being unwilling to get vaccine/wear mask in the classroom. MLG’s State Fair vaccine policies generate frustration and outrage.

In a small bit of good news, the livestock exhibits are relocating to Roswell. Finally, there was another round of protests on vaccine/mask mandates, this one focused on health care & public workers. Finally, one ABQ pastor “gets it” on masking/vaccines.

Wally and Paul discuss mask policies for school kids by state. 

NM has “more money than legislators know what to do with.”

The Rio Grande Foundation succeeded (barely) in advocating for the defeat of the 2019 “Democracy Dollars” system which left-wing advocates were touting as a hoped-for expansion of the City’s existing financing scheme.

Now, with just two months to go before the City election this fall, we have the spectacle of a Keller-appointed City Clerk Ethan Watson, who the Foundation JUST won a significant financial settlement against (for failure to disclose public record relating to Democracy Dollars), denying $650,000 to Keller’s main opponent this fall, Sheriff Manny Gonzalez.

In 2017 Keller notoriously violated the City’s campaign finance laws when he sought private AND public money for his campaign. Of course he was given a mere “slap on the wrist” post-election.

The system was always open to myriad problems (like having the clerk appointed by one mayor making financing decisions for his competition) and the use of third-party supporters to skirt the supposed effort to keep “big money” out of mayoral races, not to mention the “after the fact ‘enforcement’” of 2017.

If elected, candidates Gonzales or Aragon should work to abolish the current system. If Keller is elected he will gladly keep it intact as it has served him well.

With the recent report of unprecedented revenues flowing into the State of New Mexico (largely from oil and gas), New Mexico’s general fund budget will have increased from $5.7 billion in 2017 to $8.8 billion in FY 2023. That is an astonishing increase in excess of 54%.

The revenues come at a time when New Mexico’s economy as experienced by a majority of the State’s residents remains mired in a slump. The unemployment rate is 2nd-highest in the nation and the civilian labor force is struggling to recover even from earlier in the pandemic. But, oil and gas operate on different market forces such as newly discovered formations and prices that are driven by myriad government policies and international market forces.

So, despite higher taxes and more regulations imposed by Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Legislature, the Government of New Mexico is doing very well. Unfortunately, the State’s economic trajectory won’t change for the better until the electorate demands that oil and gas money which currently fuels bigger government (as seen in the bar chart below) is actually used to benefit New Mexico’s economy instead.

Surprising absolutely no one at the Rio Grande Foundation, the State of New Mexico’s revenues have risen to astronomical levels (an estimated $8.8 billion). According to Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal, “Estimates released Friday by executive and legislative economists project New Mexico lawmakers will have nearly $1.4 billion in “new” money.”

The astounding influx of cash prompted LFC vice chairman Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup to say, “There’s going to be a lot more money than we know what to do with in the next few years.”

This is thanks to a few trends:

• The “Biden Bucks” stimulus which dumped billions of dollars into the State to address the COVID pandemic.
• Oil and gas: New Mexico is the only top-producing state to rebound to pre-pandemic oil production levels and reached a record high of 1.2 million barrels per day in April, according to state Taxation and Revenue Department data. As you’ve undoubtedly noticed at the pump, prices at the pump have also been higher than they were before Joe Biden took office in January. Even natural gas prices have rebounded a bit from their all-time lows of a few years back.

The critical question is whether the Legislature will actually do anything useful with the money. Democrats consistently trash oil and gas while the State grows ever more dependent on the Industry. Eliminating taxes on Social Security and corporations are two options, but reform of New Mexico’s onerous gross receipts has long been the priority of the Rio Grande Foundation and would provide better economic outcomes without a great deal of lost revenue.

ALL of these priorities would be welcomed, but the “progressive” Legislature has continued to raise taxes even in times of strong revenues.

According to a leaked memo from the House Natural Resources Committee – related to its portion of the $3.5 trillion “partisan” reconciliation package that Democrats in Washington are working on, a  carbon tax, also known as a  “Carbon Pollution Fee” is among the possible “revenue raisers” in the legislation.

A few months ago New Mexico State University professor David Clements sat down for a Tipping Point New Mexico episode. You can listen to that show here. The episode is more relevant than ever because Clements was recently fired from his job at NMSU for not wearing a mask while teaching. Clements had ALSO stated that he would not be getting vaccinated (all University employees are required to be vaccinated under the Gov.’s new policy).

No one knows how many other government employees in New Mexico are refusing the vaccine, but it COULD create serious issues for the State’s health care system.

You can watch Clements explain his position in the video below.

And, while Gov. Lujan Grisham has mandated that children in ALL schools including private ones wear mask in school, the evidence for this policy is skimpy at best. The CDC studied numerous issues involving the spread of COVID 19 in school. According to the article/study, “requiring student masking was found to not have a statistically significant benefit. In other words, these measures could not be said to be effective.”

“(Numerous) countries, along with the World Health Organization, whose child-masking guidance differs substantially from the CDC’s recommendations, have explicitly recognized that the decision to mask students carries with it potential academic and social harms for children and may lack a clear benefit.”

“Scientists (the author) spoke with believe that the decision not to include the null effects of a student masking requirement (and distancing, hybrid models, etc.) in the summary amounted to “file drawering” these findings, a term researchers use for the practice of burying studies that don’t produce statistically significant results.”

In other words, the CDC didn’t like the results and essentially covered them up.

On this week’s podcast interview Paul sits down with Thaddeus Preston. Preston is one of the hosts of the New Mexico Rising podcast. The podcast attempts to “give New Mexicans a better understanding of their political and cultural landscape, through in-depth engagement with political figures, business owners, and anyone else who is actively engaged in the effort to see our state reach it’s full potential.”

In early July the Biden Administration issued a broad Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” While there are many things to like in the Order including allowing hearing aids to be sold “over the counter” and “limiting unnecessary, cumbersome occupational licensing requirements that impede economic mobility,” there is one area of the order that should be of special concern for supporters of free markets. Specifically, that involves what amounts to partial re-regulation of  railroads.

In the Order, the Administration encouraged the Surface Transportation Board (STB) — the federal agency that oversees economic regulations for private freight railroads like Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific — to consider imposing “forced access” more regularly. This means that privately owned and maintained railroads could be forced to turn over traffic to competing railroads at potentially below-market rates – a clear violation of private property rights and free market enterprise as we know it. It is like net neutrality but for railroads.

Such a system would cause harm to most shippers and the broader economy, which railroads play a critical yet silent role in.

How would it work?
Forced access would allow companies to petition the government to force a railroad to use its infrastructure and equipment on behalf of its competitor. Railroad 2 gets access to Railroad 1’s lines because the government forces Railroad 1 to provide that access across its network. It is like the government forcing Coca-Cola to allow Pepsi to produce and bottle soda at its facility. 

Switching already happens.
Any shipper who believes a carrier is abusing its market power by engaging in anti-competitive conduct can already file a case with the federal government, and if true, they can order the switch. Proponents want to remove the need to show anticompetitive conduct.

New regulation ignores reality.
Railroads compete with trucks, barges, and other market forces. Estimates show that 80% of rail traffic is subject to competition and thus exempt from rate regulation. There is no market failure.

American businesses, consumers and taxpayers would suffer.
Widespread forced switching would force inefficiencies. Customers dissatisfied with rail service would likely move goods to strained highways. Diversion of traffic from rail to trucks, which are subsidized, create congestion and would further damage the nation’s highway system.

Railroads, like pipelines or broadband companies, cover the costs required to maintain and update their privately owned infrastructure. Investment hinges on a broad base of business and sufficient revenue. By driving railroad rates for certain customers to below-market levels at the expense of other customers through forced access, the government would ultimately hinder U.S. commerce and increase the costs of consumer goods.

You can send a note to Congress asking them to rein in the Biden Administration’s proposed policy as implemented through the Surface Transportation Board here.

Today, August 25, 2021, hundreds of protesters showed up to protest against Gov. Lujan Grisham’s vaccine and mask mandates in downtown Albuquerque. Numerous photos are below including public employees and medical professions throughout the crowd (both groups are being told to get the vaccine, or else). RGF’s president took these photos and his own protest sign reflects his opposition to ineffective mask mandates for children in school (as noted by the CDC itself).