The Rio Grande Foundation and our friends at the Institute for Justice along with what ended up being a bipartisan win for “food freedom” in New Mexico. The issue is discussed at length in an Albuquerque Journal opinion piece authored by a bipartisan group of legislators after the Gov. signed the bill.

RGF sent various alerts throughout the session as well as asking supporters to send notes to the Gov. asking her to sign the bill.

As the op-ed writers note:

Although 49 states allow the sale of foods made in a home kitchen, New Mexico has had one of the strictest laws in the country. It is illegal to even sell homemade cookies to your neighbor. Instead, home bakers can sell only at farmers’ markets. And before a home baker can sell her cookies at the market, she needs to get a permit from the state that requires a stack of paperwork and can require thousands of dollars in kitchen upgrades. Making matters worse, Albuquerque bans the sale of homemade foods completely – one of the only cities in the nation to do so.

On this week’s episode, Paul interviews Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. There has been a lot of bad policy coming out of Washington, DC, during the first few months of the Biden Administration. Whether it is the $2 trillion “stimulus” or another $2 trillion “infrastructure” bill or attacks on free speech and Right to Work, the amount of transformationally bad public policy moving in Washington is almost too much to keep up with.

Thankfully Grover spends his days and even nights working on these issues. If you want to know what is happening in the federal government you don’t want to miss this conversation.

NOTE: we are posting episodes of Tipping Point NM here as well as on our YouTube channel. You can find the archives here and audio-only articles here.

As of February 2021 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics New Mexico has the 5th-highest unemployment rate in the nation. You can see a partial list below. New Mexico which remains among the most locked down states in the nation (especially its population areas) has had an elevated unemployment rate for much of the COVID crisis.

But, with the federal government’s generous (debt-fueled) “stimulus” plans  making it lucrative for people to not work, it is clear that many New Mexicans would rather stay home and cash checks than work for a living. Here are a few recent news stories showing how challenging it is for businesses to find people here and here.

Simply put, as businesses try to reopen and get back to something akin to normal, bad policies out of Washington, most notably the recent $2 trillion “Biden-bucks” scheme will make it more difficult for the economy to reopen.

The Albuquerque Journal did a write-up on newly-minted Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Scott Elder’s contract, but we wanted to take a closer look at the document.

If you’re inclined, you can read the 7 page document here. It took a bit of sleuthing to find it on the APS website.

As reported Elder will make $225.000 annually with 22 paid leave days, use of a car, and a $500 monthly “allowance” for expenses. All of that is rather routine.

According to the agreement Elder will ALSO receive contributions from APS to a supplemental retirement plan of $50,000 at the end of the 2021-2022 contract year, $55,000 at the end of the 2022-2023 contract year and $60,000 at the end of the 2023-2024 contract year. The kicker is that Elder who has worked for APS since 1991 is ALSO eligible for benefits under the Education Retirement Board (ERB) pension system available to all education employees in the State. So, Elder will truly be living large in retirement and his REAL compensation dwarfs the $225,000 in take home pay.

Furthermore, according to clause 18 of the contract is a provision that sets up mandatory binding arbitration between the District and Elder in case of a dispute. The fees and charges of the arbitration will be paid by the Board.

Finally, and arguably most importantly, there are absolutely NO performance incentives for Elder contained in his contract. So, no matter how far enrollment plummets (it has been and the situation shows no sign of abating) and regardless of how well or poorly APS students perform, Elder’s pay will not be affected.

With the District facing so many challenges we wish Elder luck, but fear that not much is going to change at APS until the school board itself changes.

A year ago New Mexicans and many folks around the country were concerned about contracting COVID 19 via surface transmission. This led Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (and other politicians state/nation wide to close down city parks and take other actions that the Centers for Disease Control now says were/are unnecessary.

As the New York Times reports:

But the era of “hygiene theater” may have come to an unofficial end this week, when the C.D.C. updated its surface cleaning guidelines and noted that the risk of contracting the virus from touching a contaminated surface was less than 1 in 10,000.

The following is a screen shot of the RGF president’s Twitter response to Keller’s closing of the playgrounds. The deleted tweets were from a New Mexico-based union official that RGF often spars with in Santa Fe.  The gist of the interaction was Gessing saying that he was going to take his kids to the playgrounds anyway (as he did) and the union official telling Gessing he was a “bad parent.”

A clear cut case of “we were right, they were wrong.”

The following is a press release from our pro-energy friends at the Western Energy Alliance. We felt that it was worth reposting the information in its entirety.

DENVER – Interior Secretary Deb Haaland recently announced that out of $1.6 billion in deferred maintenance funding for public lands nationwide, New Mexico will receive only $6.8 million. The conservation funds come primarily from federal oil and natural gas royalties, as directed by the Great American Outdoors Act. New Mexico’s share is paltry considering the state contributed $1.35 billion in royalties to the federal government and ranks first in oil production and second in natural gas on public lands. Contrast New Mexico’s share to these states which provide next to no federal oil and natural gas royalties:

• Virginia – $247.5 million
• North Carolina – $153.8 million
• New York – $50.5 million
• Washington – $50.3 million
• New Jersey – $28.3 million
• Massachusetts – $25.4 million
• Oregon – $12.5 million

“It’s astounding that New Mexico contributes so much in oil and natural gas wealth for the country but is rewarded so meagerly. Instead of addressing needs at sites like Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins in New Mexico, prosperous costal states are allowed to cash in,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of Western Energy Alliance. “To make matters worse, the president is on a path to eliminate the very source of revenue that underwrites national park deferred maintenance funding. By banning new leasing on federal lands and embarking on policies to make development on existing leases prohibitive, the federal government will soon struggle to pay for any additional public lands conservation.

“The policies that are the hallmark of the first 100 days are, paradoxically, a good way to ensure the massive backlog of maintenance at national parks remains into the future. Besides killing up to 58,676 oil and natural gas related jobs annually, the president’s ban threatens over 108,000 long-term jobs fixing national park infrastructure.

“The small share New Mexico will receive barely makes a dent in the $147 million maintenance backlog in the state’s national parks, including nearly $19 million at Chaco Cultural Historical Park and $5.2 million at Aztec Ruins National Monument. Rather, New Mexico’s $6.8 million share will go to repair dams, visitor facilities, roads, and water systems on Bureau of Land Management lands. It’s ironic the Interior Department is not doing more for Chaco, given Sec. Haaland has supported eliminating oil and natural gas development in the vicinity outside the park, supposedly to protect it. It seems like a missed opportunity to directly fund facilities and cultural resource protection inside the park.

“Furthermore, removing development will devastate the livelihoods of thousands of Indian mineral owners who wish to develop their oil and natural gas resources as a means to provide for their families. Annually,21,000 Navajo mineral owners receive about $100 million from oil companies that develop the minerals on their behalf. Depriving Native Americans of their royalty income in an economically disadvantaged area is not justifiable from an environmental justice perspective,” added Sgamma.

The funds are authorized under the Great American Outdoors Act passed by Congress in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion last summer. The act authorizes up to $1.9 billion annually, predominantly from oil and natural gas production on non-park, non-wilderness public lands, for maintenance and conservation in national parks and other protected public lands. The act also permanently funds the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund to the tune of $900 million annually, which is exclusively generated from offshore oil and natural gas. Western Energy Alliance supported the bill because it provides an appropriate balance between responsible energy development on working landscapes while preserving our nation’s treasured public spaces.

“The federal oil and natural gas program is basically the sole source of new conservation and maintenance funding for our public lands. With his ban on federal oil and natural gas leasing, President Biden is risking $2.8 billion annually for our national parks and other iconic public lands,” added Sgamma.

# # #

Western Energy Alliance represents 200 companies engaged in all aspects of environmentally responsible exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the West. Alliance members are independents, the majority of which are small businesses with an average of fourteen employees. Learn more atwww.WesternEnergyAlliance.org.

Note to editors: The  list of FY2021 projects by state is included in the agency’s press release.

New Mexico: $ 6,805,000

On the latest Tipping Point NM conversation, Paul and Wally discuss a few articles showing that there is “no such thing as a free lunch” when it comes to energy.

ABQ/Bernalillo County remains in Yellow. San Juan County moves from Turquoise to green. There is no end in sight for MLG’s rules.

Back to School seems to be going fine, but the number of students in school is down.

Gov. signs “food freedom” bill but vetoes “earmark” of federal funds for unemployment insurance. The unemployment veto is important for both policy reasons as well as separation of powers.

Paul goes through the results of the Foundation’s annual Freedom Index :

New Mexico’s Human Services Department’s data book paints a bleak picture of NM.

The following appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

Ten people, including a Boulder police officer, were killed in a shooting at the King Soopers supermarket in Boulder on March 22. One of the victims was Denny Stong.

I knew Denny. I was planning to attend an event with him at the beginning of May. He was 20, and his life was tragically cut short. His death is a catastrophic loss for his family, his friends and his community.

This young man was also looking to obtain a concealed-carry permit from the state of Colorado. Unfortunately, Denny was too young: Colorado requires people to be 21 years of age to be issued a concealed handgun carry permit.

I blame the gunman for Denny’s death. But I also blame the government and Kroger Company for leaving him defenseless.

The Rio Grande Foundation tracks floor votes on floor votes in the New Mexico Legislature through our Freedom Index.  Votes that are the MOST pro-freedom are scored up to +8 points while the most anti-freedom bills are rated as low as -8. Legislators receive points based on those votes.

One additional note: comparing House and Senate results is problematic as the two bodies vote on different bills with the Senate typically taking fewer overall votes.

Freedom Index Results

House: best

• James Strickler 122 points
• Stefani Lord 109 points
• Randal Pettigrew 108 points

Senate: best

• Cliff Pirtle 68 points
• Mark Moores 65 points

House: worst

• Miguel Garcia -189 points
• Speaker Brian Egolf -187 points

Senate: worst

• Jeff Steinborn & Mimi Stewart -150
• Liz Stefanics -146
• Katy Duhigg -145

The following appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on Saturday, April 3, 2021.

Contractor-operated prisons, or so-called “private prisons,” have been vilified among progressives, even though their success in preparing inmates for productive engagement after their incarceration should be lauded by all social and political ideologies as part of the solution to social justice reform.

HB 40, which would eliminate all privately-managed correctional facilities in New Mexico, (was introduced in the recent 60-day legislative session but failed to clear the House).

Last month, President Biden signed an executive order to end new contracts between the Department of Justice and contractor-run corrections facilities, which almost exclusively house foreign citizens convicted of federal crimes.

Contractor-run correctional facilities perform a valuable service. They help control overcrowding in publicly-run prisons, while providing more and better rehabilitation opportunities. Typically, inmates are safer as rates of assault were lower at contractor-run facilities than rates in publicly-managed prisons.

Opened in 1998, the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs is a contractor-managed facility, operated by GEO Group on a former World War II training base. As with all correctional facilities in the United States, it is managed in compliance with standards set by the American Correctional Association. The facility was most recently reaccredited in 2015 with a perfect score.

The facility provides inmates with training, work programming, recreation and educational opportunities. GEO’s in-custody and post-release “continuum of care” programming, developed by experts in criminal justice, substance abuse, psychology and other areas keeps residents engaged for positive change, is critical for them to be successful once they serve their sentence and to avoid reoffending. A study from the Rand Corporation found that inmates who participated in correctional education programs were 43% less likely to recidivate than inmates who did not. And, oftentimes, state budget cuts often hit prison programming first, while private contractors have flexibility and can invest their own resources to continue to do what is best for those in their care.

While visiting another GEO Group-managed facility here in New Mexico, I met residents and staff who spoke highly of their experiences with the programming offered. Many residents have struggled with substance abuse challenges and require acute counseling and rehabilitation programming to help overcome their addiction. According to the Sage Neuroscience Center, all of the top 10 causes of death in New Mexico can be at least partially attributed to drug and alcohol abuse. Program residents must complete the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) as part of their sentence. With new executive orders underway and the threat of HB 40, these programs could be shut down, potentially forcing these individuals into a jailhouse general population where they would not be able to get the services they need to survive and thrive after they serve their sentence. Revoking important substance abuse programs would destine many of these people to the damning cycle of ongoing drug and alcohol abuse, harming not only themselves, but also their families, and local communities.

In short, all contractor-operated facilities follow the same protocols, policies and procedures as publicly-run facilities under the New Mexico Department of Corrections. Furthermore, the contractors have strict oversight of their operations that include on-site monitors, something that the government facilities and the state lack. Additionally, contractors are held to the terms of their agreement with the state and are penalized for any shortcomings, unlike their government-run counterparts.

Most importantly, as our nation shifts its corrections’ paradigm to highlight judicial reforms and inmate reentry, we should leverage all of the successful tools at our disposal to provide inmates with the care, attention, and training they need inside facility walls – whether contractor run or publicly run – in order to be well-functioning members of society when they rejoin the public.

Continuing to wage war on contractor-run prisons doesn’t solve any problems or help inmates. If a program works, it shouldn’t matter who is managing it. By working together, we can rethink our prison system for the benefit of everyone.

The recent New Mexico Legislative session and numerous federal policy initiatives are designed for the supposed purpose of reducing CO2 emissions and thus saving the environment. While touted as good for the economy these policies have significant economic costs.

Unfortunately, while the US is already reducing CO2 emissions, China is most definitely not. In fact, even the New York Times recently covered this issue and noted that:

The country’s annual carbon dioxide emissions are 28 percent of the global total, roughly the same as the next three biggest emitters combined: the United States, the European Union and India.

Furthermore, while the push towards greater use of electric vehicles (not to mention use of batteries in electricity storage for the electrical grid) is a priority of the Biden Administration and New Mexico’s political leadership, that push will require more mining. As this Reuters article points out the push to electrification will require more permitting of mines.

Theoretically more mining could help New Mexico’s economy which has great potential for “rare earth minerals,” but the same environmentalists who are pushing for “clean” energy are also the first to object to new mining permits. How that tension is resolved is anybody’s guess, but so far it has meant simply exporting America’s hunt for minerals to poor nations with fewer restrictions.

Yesterday New Mexicans were subjected to yet another press conference from the Gov. and her health advisor David Scrase. In terms of COVID 19 the news is all good. More counties continue to move into the turquoise level although (unfortunately) many major population centers (including Bernalillo County) remain in yellow.

But regardless of which level various counties are at, David Scrase and the Gov. have said nothing of substance with regard to when the health emergency will end or even when ALL New Mexico businesses can reopen. In fact, the 2021 New Mexico Senior Olympics has been canceled and numerous businesses (bars, bowling alleys, indoor entertainment centers, movie theaters, and trampoline parks) REMAIN closed in the most populated areas of the State.

And, while the 2021 legislative session could have been MUCH worse, the fact is that placing restrictions on this and future governors’ emergency powers was truly THE critical issue facing the State. Unfortunately, Democrats in the Legislature were unwilling to pass needed legislation, especially after the Gov. stated she’d veto such efforts (even though a constitutional amendment would not have required her signature.

Sadly, none of the emergency restrictions even received a vote and were (obviously) not prioritized in the special session: HJR 6, HB 139, and SB 74 were the bills. New Mexico voters MUST take into account the political decision by New Mexico’s elected Democrats NOT to restore a balance of power even in so-called “emergencies.”

Recently Paul and his family took a family (driving) trip to California. Paul lives in Bernalillo County which to date has achieved Yellow status under Gov. Lujan Grisham’s latest COVID rubric so comparisons will be with New Mexico’s Yellow tier. Notably, California is considered among the very most locked-down states (44th most open) while New Mexico is now 33rd according to Wallethub.

Here are a few thoughts about NM vs. California:

1. 1. CA just reopened both indoor AND outdoor dining, but the dining situation is quite similar to what exists in Bernalillo County;
   2. CA has bigger natural outdoor crowds such as Monterrey Pier and Santa Cruz. There are signs threatening $100 fines for no mask wearing outside and I was told that enforcement did occur, but we never had a problem even if we didn’t wear a mask outside. Overall mask wearing was between 75 and 90% at both places. Beaches DID NOT require masks and wearing of them was minimal on the beach. Amusement park rides were open at Santa Cruz Pier (with masks);
   3. Movie theaters were open in California;
   4. One disturbing note was in driving through Arizona which we did (twice), many of the chain stores and hotel had “masks required” signs despite the state having dropped its mask requirement. It is going to be interesting to see how businesses respond. This SEEMS like an example of “corporate attorneys” keeping overly-cautious policies in place. It will be up to the public to push back by taking their business elsewhere. A positive note: employees at these businesses seemingly DID NOT enforce mask requirements where they existed.

Notably, gas prices in some places in California exceeded $4.00 per gallon while a typical price was $3.50 or so.

On this week’s discussion, Paul shares his first-hand perspective of another locked-down state, California including the similarities and differences with New Mexico.

Melanie Stansbury wins the Democratic Party nomination for New Mexico’s first congressional district (CD1) in an upset. She will face Mark Moores and others in a June election. What distinguishes these two candidates?

Marijuana is legalized in a special session of the New Mexico Legislature. How it happened and what might the rollout of this legislation look like for New Mexico

Back to school (in-person) for (some) New Mexico public school students.

Kentucky Education Savings Accounts are adopted. Will this trend come to New Mexico? Don’t hold your breath.

The Republicans and Democrats have chosen their candidates for CD 1 and with the vote coming on June 1, there is limited time for campaigning or for voters to find out necessary information. The good news is that the Rio Grande Foundation has been tracking legislative votes via our Freedom Index for some time and both Sen. Mark Moores (R) and Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) have taken a number of important votes in recent years.

The following is a comparison of their votes on some momentous issues:

In 2019

HB 55: changed New Mexico election law (assuming enough other states do so) to allocate New Mexico’s electors in presidential elections to the winner of the popular vote (thus reducing NM’s influence in presidential races):

Stansbury Yes

Moores No

HB 85: Prohibited local “right to work” laws which gave workers in the 10 counties that had passed them the right to opt out of paying union fees:

Stansbury Yes

Moores No.

SB 489: Energy Transition Act (AKA, mini-green New Deal): this law requires utilities to dramatically increase the use of “renewable” electricity with no protections for rate payers.

Stansbury Yes

Moores Yes

HB 6: Major tax hike on car sales, internet sales, personal incomes, and other items. This tax hike was passed at a time of a major budget surplus.

Stansbury Yes

Moores No

In 2020

SB 5: Red Flag gun law allows dubious due process and for government seizure of guns;

Stansbury Yes

Moores No

In 2021

SB 317: Among other issues this bill increases taxes on certain health insurance policies from 1 percent to 3.75 percent. The legislation represents a tax hike of $153.2 million annually initially;

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

HB 20: Mandatory paid sick leave (government employees were ultimately not included);

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

SB 112: Sustainable economy task force: creates a task force with the express goal of reducing reliance on oil and gas. Of course, New Mexico’s Democrat-controlled Legislature has had ample time to enact public policies to “diversify” New Mexico’s economy;

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

SB 8: Gives local governments the ability to enact more restrictive air quality regulations than are imposed by the federal government;

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

HJR 1 Increases withdrawals from New Mexico’s Land Grant Permanent Fund by 1.25% increase and dedicates 60% for “early childhood” programs/40% for K-12;

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

HB 4: The so-called New Mexico Civil Rights Act would actually do little to protect New Mexicans’ civil rights and instead simply opens local governments throughout the State up to more litigation.

Stansbury: Yes

Moores: No

On this week’s interview, Paul interviews Larry Behrens of Power the Future New Mexico.  They have set up a website: https://www.yourefrackingwelcome.com to honor and thank workers in the oil and gas industry.

Furthermore, Larry and Paul worked together on reopening New Mexico and the Gov.’s COVID restrictions. They start the program by discussing how their recommendations made back in April of 2020 would have been much better for New Mexicans and small businesses in the State.

As New Mexicans who are paying even the slightest attention to politics are aware, the Biden Administration has placed a moratorium on oil/gas permitting on federal lands. This will have enormous impacts on New Mexico, but as we recently noted, AG Balderas HAS NOT seen fit to sign New Mexico on to a lawsuit filed by 14 states against Biden’s moratorium.

But, Balderas DID see fit to file suit against the proposed Holtec nuclear storage facility outside of Carlsbad. Holtec’s facility would result in a $3 billion capital expenditure by the company to the region, and create up to 400 jobs between the site itself and manufacturing plant to build steel casks to hold the waste in storage.

Not surprisingly, despite his unwillingness to lift a finger to support oil and gas (not to mention New Mexico’s economy) against the Biden Administration’s existential threat, Balderas has claimed that the facility represents a “threat” to the region’s oil and gas industry.

It is far more likely that Balderas’ lawsuit is the result of NIMBY ideology than any concern about oil and gas. Alas, if he is successful, the result will be fewer jobs and a less diversified economy in Southeast New Mexico.

On this week’s podcast, Paul and Wally discuss the fact that more NM counties continue to improve on COVID.

Cliffs Amusement Park is set to reopen on May 8. Hinkle Family Fun Center is still not open but is hiring. How easy will it be for these businesses to find employees with all the “free” money floating around?

Arizona and Utah remove nearly all COVID restrictions.

Two weeks after opening Texas continued to see a decline in COVID cases.

In Texas when the State dropped its mask mandate on March 10 there were 5,350 new cases and a rolling 7 day average of 4,909. By March 28 there were 3,293 new cases and a rolling 7 day of 4,005.

In New Mexico which remains relatively locked down and with a mask mandate in place, on March 10 there were 249 new cases and a rolling 7 day of 227.

By March 28 in NM there were 161 new cases with 7 day rolling average of 188.

New Mexico’s Special Session begins Tuesday. Thankfully only two issues on agenda, but timing is awkward and politically-motivated.

Who did well or poorly on the Freedom Index?

State Sen. Mark Moores gets GOP nod for GOP in CD1

Paul and Wally discuss several issues left undiscussed during the 2021 session:

Right to Work;
Reduction of or elimination of New Mexico’s income tax;
Reforming the GRT;
Occupational licensing reform;
Eliminate film subsidies;
Consider new approaches to Rail Runner and Spaceport;
Ambitious school choice/efforts to empower parents to choose education that makes sense for their child;
Higher education reform;
Repeal ETA or institute rate caps to make sure utilities don’t increase rates rapidly.

14 states are suing Biden on oil/gas moratorium, but not New Mexico even though we are the State most impacted.

Finally, we discuss teacher bashing.

The very essence of the work of the Rio Grande Foundation is to attempt to push the so-called “Overton Window” of political possibility in a more pro-freedom direction. Alas, that Window has always been tough to nudge in the pro-freedom direction here in New Mexico (which is why we have especially low levels of economic freedom).

But, many forces act upon that “window” and if you’d told us that large numbers of Americans would not only gladly accept, but demand their governments tell them to not travel, go to work, their kids to go to school, and any of them to leave their houses prior to 2020, we wouldn’t have believed it. So, the Window CAN change quickly in the right conditions

Any time the Legislature meets it is worth reporting on the issues that were really never seriously discussed. Unfortunately, in New Mexico’s left-wing Legislature, numerous widely-implemented economic reforms remain outside the “window.”

Right to Work; More than half of all states give private sector workers the right to NOT pay union dues or fees if they don’t want to. Thanks to the Janus vs. AFSCME SCOTUS decision all government employees have this right. The Biden Administration’s “PRO Act” is an attempt to overturn Right to Work laws nationwide.

Reduce or eliminate income tax; Nine US states lack a personal income tax. Americans are flocking to those states.

Reform GRT; This is a basic tax reform that is essential for making New Mexico more economically-attractive, especially for small businesses, but serious reforms were not considered in 2021;

Occupational licensing reform; Former Gov. Susana Martinez issued a positive executive order easing restrictions, but nothing has really changed;

Eliminate film subsidies; New Mexico spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to bring Hollywood filmmakers to the State to make movies and TV shows. No credible study finds this to be a net positive when it comes to the overall economy.

Consider new approaches to Rail Runner and Spaceport. There are not GOOD solutions given how much has been spent, but the Rail Runner in particular is incredibly expensive on an ongoing basis;

Ambitious school choice/efforts to empower parents to choose education that makes sense for their child (Kentucky and West Virginia have just done this);

Higher education reform;

Repeal the costly Energy Transition Act or institute rate caps to make sure utilities don’t increase rates rapidly;

The following appeared in the Las Cruces Sun News on Sunday, March 28, 2021. UPDATE: Originally the article stated there was a production moratorium on federal lands. There is “only” a moratorium on new permits.

New Mexico is in one of the most unusual economic times in its history. Profound forces have impacted our State over the last year in unforeseen ways.

• • The Gov. and COVID shut down much of our State for much of the past year. COVID is declining, but New Mexico remains among the most locked-down states in the nation;
  • Oil and gas prices plummeted last April due to the pandemic and an international price war, but have come roaring back and produced $300 million in “new” money and a budget surplus;
  • Democrats in Washington recently passed a $1.9 trillion dollar “stimulus” that will dump an astounding $9 billion on New Mexico State and local governments. Meanwhile the Administration’s moratorium on oil and gas permits on federal lands will cost our State more than $700 million over the next few years according to Gov. Lujan Grisham;
  • While New Mexico governments are awash in money, businesses are struggling to recover. The State’s unemployment rate is 8.7 percent, 4^th-worst in the nation.

To say we are living through unpredictable times would be an understatement. Oil and gas have always been volatile but are now more unpredictable than ever. This reflects broader economic uncertainty, but with the Biden Administration targeting the Industry, the Legislature must diversify our economy (this does not mean simply new sources of government revenue).

The unprecedented stream of federal spending flowing into our state is currently augmented by a flow of people. Housing markets are tight in most of our cities as Americans from big, expensive, states like California embrace remote work or simply move to states like New Mexico where they can spread out and buy a house for a lot less money.

Current trends are favorable, but long-term economic prosperity requires enacting policies that make the State more attractive as a business destination. The 2021 Legislature had a few successes but ultimately failed to enact policies that will bring long-term prosperity to New Mexico.

Despite a big budget surplus, the Legislature raised taxes on health insurance (SB 317). They imposed a new sick leave mandate on businesses, including small ones (HB 20). And, passage of HB 4, the misnamed “Civil Rights Act” will impose massive new legal costs on New Mexico governments without actually improving policing or protecting civil rights.

There were bright spots. HB 255 reformed New Mexico’s liquor licensing to make it easier for bars and restaurants long-term. HB 177 passed which allows New Mexicans to start micro-businesses by making non-perishable food items in their homes for sale.

But the gross receipts tax and its taxation of busines inputs and services remains a stumbling block for businesses. New Mexico also remains among a relatively small group of states that tax Social Security. No significant tax cuts or reforms were adopted. Also, no widespread reform of burdensome regulations (like the State’s “prevailing wage” law that artificially increases costs on public works) projects was enacted.

Some will argue that (after a decade of trying) tapping the Permanent fund to boost various education programs will help improve our workforce, but the track record of governments (including New Mexico’s) spending more money to boost education outcomes is spotty at best. Empowering parents and families with the resources needed to choose the educational option that is right for them (especially after a year of Zoom education), is more likely to succeed and at a fraction of the cost, but legislation to that effect was quickly defeated this session.

Microchip manufacturer Intel just announced that it is investing $20 billion in neighboring Arizona to build two new facilities. Such “economic diversification” is exactly what we need and what the Gov. and Legislature claim to want. Until the Legislature gets serious about reforming our economy we’ll continue riding the wave of luck, boom and bust in the oil patch, and Washington debt.

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

The New Mexico Legislature will convene once again for what SHOULD be a brief special session on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. The Gov.’s announcement is here. 

We’re not super-excited (and are sure the Legislature isn’t either) about doing this so quickly after a long and intense 60-day session, but we are happy that it is limited to two issues.

We’re not fans of the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) corporate welfare program, or its expansion, as a general rule, either.

It will be interesting to see if the Legislature can pass straightforward marijuana legalization bill in what will amount to a few days when they couldn’t do so even though it was a top priority of the Gov. and the Legislature during the 60 day session. Will it happen? We shall see.

This episode was recorded BEFORE Intel announced a $20 billion investment in Arizona OR lifting COVID 19 restrictions. Those developments reflect the wide gulf in public policy between Arizona and New Mexico.

On this week’s episode, Paul sits down with former New Mexico media personality Larry Ahrens. For decades Larry was a fixture on radio and television throughout our State. Paul and Larry specifically discuss the early days of having Rush Limbaugh on KKOB radio.

Since March of 2020 (the start of COVID 19) the Rio Grande Foundation has been located in downtown Albuquerque.

While Albuquerque has never had the greatest downtown, there is no doubt that the area has been hammered by COVID 19, the riots over the summer of 2020, and Mayor Tim Keller’s lax policies towards crime and homelessness. He just announced that he will be running for reelection this fall.

The Rio Grande Foundation recently took a drive around downtown and up Central Ave./Route 66 with a mounted camera to see what the City looks like. Watch the video for yourself below.