Conservative have LOTS of disagreements with former NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D), but there’s no doubt about two things:
He recently wrote an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal and made some salient points:
While he tries to offer support for Lujan Grisham’s Virus response policies he also criticizes her saying, “leaders need to regionalize some of our response. Southeast and Northeast New Mexico, with far fewer cases, can have their restrictions loosened sooner than Albuquerque, Santa Fe, San Juan and McKinley…And perhaps allow one of my favorite spots, Elephant Butte, which often draws over 100,00 people on a holiday weekend, to allow boating first, then a slow opening of the beaches.”
Continuing on after making several points on a various issues the ex-Gov. writes, “don’t raise taxes of any kind. We need to attract new businesses and, if anything, get rid of the onerous double Social Security tax. ”
At the Rio Grande Foundation we have been circulating a “no tax hike” pledge. Richardson sounds like he’d not only not raise taxes, but with the challenging revenue situation he’s advocating for lower taxes.
The following appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News on May 24, 2020.
Much of the focus in this virus-induced economic downturn has been on Gov. Lujan Grisham and her efforts to slow its spread statewide. It has taken Lujan Grisham a very long time to publicly address the very real economic issues created by her economic shutdown policies and the precipitous drop in oil prices.
As we know by now New Mexico faces unprecedented economic issues with the shortfall totaling $2 billion (or more) out of a $7.6 billion budget.
Critically, while the entire country has been economically impacted by the crisis, New Mexico will see a “double whammy” from the virus and depressed oil prices. Prices have rebounded from a temporary drop below zero, but the industry accounts for 40 percent of the state’s tax revenues. The oil price decline and (likely) slow recovery is going to depress tax revenues statewide — and across all levels of government — for years to come.
We haven’t heard much about how cities and counties will be impacted economically. Cities rely heavily on gross receipts taxes. For example Las Cruces got 76 percent of its 2019-2020 revenue from GRT. Another 12 percent came from property taxes. Santa Fe, a very different city economically, received “just” 28 percent of its revenues from the GRT and 3 percent from property taxes.
County governments rely more heavily on property taxes. Bernalillo County’s budget, for example is 49 percent GRT and 45 percent property tax while Doña Ana gets 32 percent of its budget from GRT and 26 percent from property taxes.
Here are a few points to consider:
While there have been some notable exceptions, many local governments in New Mexico appear to have taken a “head-in-the-sand-approach” to the fallout from this economic downturn.
In mid-April right in the middle of the outbreak Bernalillo County passed an absurdly bloated budget with 7 percent growth. Las Cruces and Doña Ana haven’t reacted in any public way so far although the county’s Twitter feed is full of hiring notices (nothing about budget cuts or layoffs). The city of Las Cruces has made no public announcements of budget measures being taken to stem the likely tide of red ink.
Interestingly, Santa Fe, often seen as a bastion of liberalism has already announced a spending freeze that is projected to save some $25 million, but the City faces a deficit of $100 million according to recent reports. Rio Rancho has also shown sensitivity to budgetary reality by furloughing 112 “nonessential” employees, about 15% of the city’s workforce. Reaching beyond New Mexico’s boundaries the city of El Paso has adopted pay cuts for city employees for 12 weeks and furloughs for others.
New Mexico’s local governments are not created equal. Some have big budgets driven by economic growth and relatively wealthy populations; some do not. But tough times are ahead for all due to the virus situation and the massive hit to oil production and tax revenues paid by the industry. Growth is out of question and it is shocking that all local governments haven’t instituted hiring freezes to at least avoid adding to the number of employees that must be paid with dwindling revenues. Cities and counties that are not actively trimming their budgets yet need to be asked “why not?”
A proactive approach to streamlining now will head off far more difficult and painful decisions later. Local governments need to act now.
Paul Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation.
With traditional theaters largely shut down (at least for a time) nationwide, the remaining drive-in theaters experienced a sudden resurgence. Despite living in Albuquerque when I looked for a drive in theater and found one in Las Vegas, I seriously considered checking it out. As a parent of young kids who have never been to a real drive-in theater I figured it might be fun.
Well, as it turns out the theater attempted to open in mid-May and the Gov. stopped it. There is no scientific or even logical reason for this and it makes an honest observer wonder why she wouldn’t allow this kind of business to reopen.
A second story from the Santa Fe New Mexican includes statements from NM’s Tourism Secretary (with backup from the Gov.) saying that New Mexico may not see events bigger than 100 people for up to 18 months. That could obviously have profound impacts not just on the economy, but on our way of life as well. Weddings, Balloon Fiesta, sports at all levels and more. It is a frightening proposition to say the least.
UPDATE: a “drive in” movie showing that had previously been scheduled by the City of Rio Rancho and had a waiting list of over 90 people who wanted to attend was canceled today as a direct result of the Gov.’s prohibition on drive in movies:
The Rio Grande Foundation has been circulating a pledge for legislative candidates asking them to commit to not raise taxes through the 2021 legislative session. We have had numerous signers, but the following are the ones who are in competitive primary races in their respective parties.
Interestingly, the Senate races are all GOP while the two Democratic Party races are for House seats.
Dennis Domrzalski does great old-school reporting. He likes to dig into the data and figure out why New Mexico government is so bloated and inefficient. Much like the Rio Grande Foundation. His latest report here explores the massive overtime pay being given to APD spokesman Simon Drobik.
According to the report Drobik made $82,371 in first four months of this year and is on track to make $247K for year. This is not a new problem as Drobik has been paid massive overtime over the span of the last decade. And, in 2019 the Police Oversight Board called for Drobik’s dismissal due to the overtime situation.
The 2019 “report emphasizes that there was no evidence of criminal activity, it did find that throughout 2018 Drobik violated policies more than 50 times by getting paid simultaneously for being on call as a spokesman and working the ‘chief’s overtime’ at local businesses..”
It is hard to see why the City, through two administrations, would want to continue wasting that kind of money on overtime pay, especially given the looming challenges of recovering from the COVID 19 shutdown.
According to the Albuquerque Journal New Mexico’s special session is set for June 18. It is good to have a date and some certainty around when the Legislature plans to meet.
More interestingly, Gov. Lujan Grisham stated in the announcement that “We’re in a pretty good position where I don’t anticipate we’ll have to make deep cuts.” New Mexico DOES have a large “rainy day fund” due to years of high oil prices and rapid growth in the Permian Basin. And of course the State can also rely on some level of federal support.
But, it is also worth noting that there is an election this fall. Gov. MLG has every incentive to minimize the economic pain for the Democrat-majority in the Legislature that has rubber-stamped so many of her big-spending policies over the last two years. And, of course, the Gov. has had New Mexico’s economy on “lockdown” for the last few months. Spending cuts or tax hikes in this Special Session will be blamed on her.
Of course oil prices which have rebounded to the $30 range remain below “break even” for many producers and New Mexico will likely suffer longer-term pain than most states. So, it makes sense for her to keep the pain to a minimum BEFORE the election. We’ll have the tax hike/spending cut discussion during the 2021 session AFTER the election.
On this week’s podcast discussion Paul and Wally discuss the latest Coronavirus news. The Gov. opened up churches to 25% occupancy. Retail is also opening slowly. Masks are required in public. Elephant Butte remains shut down. Finally, the Gov. and Mayor of Albuquerque both have released detailed plans that seem to be moving towards their version of a “new normal.”
Mayor Keller has extended his plastic bag ban suspension to allow bags until mid-June.
The ABQ Journal and their cartoonist John Trever continue their good work by making several salient points about the science being used by the Gov. and others.
It’s ALWAYS time to tap the Permanent Fund for New Mexico’s liberals.
Wally and Paul discuss the fact that primary voting is going on now. They talk about some of the most important races from an ideological and policy perspective (as opposed to personality) that will be voted on.
California Gov. Gavin Newsome has called for 10% across the board cuts to all State employee pay. Gov. Lujan Grisham has still not done anything to address New Mexico’s impending economic crisis.
Paul and Wally conclude with a brief discussion of the sorry state of open government in New Mexico.
The leftist groups and politicians that control New Mexico want to raise your taxes to deal with the Virus and shutdown economic disaster. The Tweet below from Rep. Moe Maestas (with a follow-up from the lobbyist for NM Voices for Children), reflects the party line on the left. They don’t say “raise taxes,” rather they put nearly every major facet of government off limits and they refuse to even consider that some government programs or spending in their “sacred” areas might be ineffective.
The tax hike situation is a real threat as New Mexico’s economic recovery begins. These are the same people who brought you a tax increase (HB 6 in 2019) when the State had a surplus of over $1 billion. Now that the surplus has evaporated due both to the Virus-induced economic shutdown imposed by Gov. Lujan Grisham and the massive drop in oil prices, we have a major budget deficit.
At the Rio Grande Foundation we are attempting to get legislators across our state to sign our pledge NOT to raise taxes (the overall burden) through at least the end of the 2021 Session which will end in March of next year.
Despite our best efforts it has quite frankly been a challenge to get legislators to sign the pledge. I’m not just talking about Democrats, but many Republicans have been unwilling to sign.
Just to be clear, I don’t believe many of these legislators will vote to raise taxes, but many (including Republicans) have voted to raise taxes in the past. We don’t want them to do it again.
Below is the list of legislators who have NOT signed the Rio Grande Foundation’s taxpayer pledge along with their emails and phone numbers if available. If you don’t know who your legislators are, you can find out by clicking here.
Please take a moment and send your representative and senator a note (or give them a call) and ask them politely to sign the Rio Grande Foundation pledge NOT to raise taxes as a result of the Virus-induced shutdown. They (and you) can find the pledge at: www.riograndefoundation.org/pledge.
If your legislator IS NOT listed it means they HAVE signed the pledge. Please feel free to thank them for standing against higher taxes.
New Mexico is among the most tightly shut down states in the entire country. This is according to the website Wallethub which has been ranking the various US states on how “open” or “closed” they are.
New Mexico was tied with Washington State as the 44thmost open or, with the inclusion of Washington, DC, 7thleast open. There is a clear partisan divide among the “openers” and “closers.” Until you hit Ohio, the 14thmost “closed” state all of the “closers” are led by Democrats. And, while Wisconsin (with a Democrat governor) jumped to the top of the list of “open” states thanks to a judge’s order it is not until West Virginia, the 14thmost-open state that we see a Democrat-run state among the most open.
Notably, New Mexico’s neighbors are ALL far more open than we are. As of writing this piece on May 19th, most of New Mexico’s neighbors ALSO have fewer deaths per million than we do. Colorado is the notable exception, yet Colorado also ranks as the 31stmost open, 13 places above New Mexico.
According to the report, NM is considered among the states with “many restrictions & a high death rate.” Of course, those deaths are relatively geographically isolated. (sadly) on the Navajo Reservation which has has been discussed in the media.
With the Gov. and Mayor Keller having recently published reports with detailed and strict information on reopening the NM economy, it does not appear that NM is going to reopen much relative to other states for the foreseeable future. The more relevant question for New Mexico and other shut down states is whether the decisions are being driven by politics or science.
In Sunday’s Albuquerque Journal the “usual suspects” Reps. Moe Maestas and Javier Martinez teamed up to argue (for the umpteenth time) that New Mexico can solve ALL its problems if it JUST tapped into its Land Grant Permanent Fund.
We’ve heard their arguments before over the span of the past decade. The only new wrinkle thrown in is that THIS TIME we are facing an unprecedented financial crisis so, as the authors write, tapping the fund is a two-fer, “By accessing this additional funding we not only avoid cutting existing programs, but we can actually expand ECE programing. It will also free up valuable resources that we can use for a stimulus package for small businesses.”
The fundamental problem that Maestas and Martinez simply refuse to come to grips with is that after decades of Democrat rule New Mexico’s government spends more than nearly any other state in the nation (as a percent of GDP) while ranking 44th for “return on investment” according to Wallethub.
Maesta and Martinez can’t see fit to even consider cutting spending like costly film subsidies. It is ALWAYS about MORE spending for these people even if the data justifying their precious PreK programs are not what they think they are.
California is often and rightfully seen as a “progressive” State and model for wannabe “progressive” political leaders like Michelle Lujan Grisham. Remember her pledge to mandate a massive increase in vehicle miles per gallon? And of course there was the Energy Transition Act to shut down coal as an electricity source in New Mexico.
These are just some of the policies that New Mexico (and other states) have taken cues on from California. Now, the liberal Gov. of California Gavin Newsom has introduced a plan to cut pay for ALL government workers in California by 10%.
So far Gov. Lujan Grisham has simply refused to seriously discuss the economy as an issue here in New Mexico despite the economic shutdown AND the drop in oil prices which are expected to have profound impacts on the State economy.
On this week’s podcast, Paul interviews David Holt of the Consumer Energy Alliance. The organization bills itself as “The Voice of Energy Consumers.” The group has a presence in New Mexico, especially the Permian Basin.
With everything happening in today’s economy and with regard to energy issues, Paul and David discuss the big-picture energy situation, but also comment on the drastic changes likely to occur in the supply chain and whether/how a shift away from China might impact New Mexico.
David is an optimist when it comes to the US economy and energy especially in the area of “re-shoring” a variety of manufacturing activities, but Paul asks him some hard questions about the economic recovery and challenges, especially as they relate to New Mexico.
As Dan McKay of the Albuquerque Journal noted in today’s paper, “In this year’s legislative session, he had the second-highest score issued by the libertarian-leaning Rio Grande Foundation, which examined all 112 legislators’ votes on matters of “individual liberty and economic freedom.”
This is an accurate statement, but the differences between Rep. Gregg Schmedes and Sen. James White when it comes to policy issues could not be greater. The following are some of the most important votes tracked in our Freedom Index the last few years:
In 2019 White voted FOR the Energy Transition Act (also known as New Mexico’s “Green New Deal” SB 489 (Schmedes voted NO). This bill imposes a costly 50% “renewable” mandate on New Mexico utilities and their customers and bails PNM out of its San Juan Generating Station;
In 2019 White voted FOR HB 6 (Schmedes voted NO) which was a major tax hike on all New Mexicans. This tax hike was passed despite the existence at the time of a budget surplus in excess of $1 billion;
Also in 2019 White voted for HB 2 (Schmedes again voted NO). HB 2 was the budget. It boosted spending by an unsustainable 11% in a single year. While no one could have predicted the collapse in oil and gas revenues or the New Mexico economy in general, there was no doubt that 11% budget growth was unsustainable. White AGAIN voted for a bloated budget in 2020 (also HB 2). The total spending increase in two years was 21% and White voted for all of it (Schmedes voted against it).
White is a very nice man. He has done some great work in opposing film subsidies, but he has not signed the Rio Grande Foundation’s pledge against raising taxes in response to the Virus-induced downturn. He has also not signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge not to raise taxes more generally.
There is a clear difference in the philosophical outlook on government between Republicans in Senate District 19. That’s why Rio Grande Foundation sent the postcards below to ALL GOP voters
Whether it’s projected tax revenues or emails from constituents to County Commissioners, the Rio Grande Foundation is passionate about open government and regularly files public records requests. New Mexico has solid sunshine laws on the books and good case law to support our right to know: “Recognizing that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, the intent of the […] Inspection of Public Records Act is to ensure […] that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government.”
The Coronavirus Pandemic has us all acclimating to abnormal working conditions and different environments. That includes both public records custodians and the team here at the Foundation. However, the state of open government and transparency in government is troubling. Normally, public records requests are responded to in a lethargic fashion regardless of the public body the records are sought from.
This pandemic has added remarkable delays to already delayed requests, directly impacting our ability to seek and obtain public records related to our work here at the Foundation. Public officers and employees of our government have either forgotten the importance of our sunshine or are using the Virus to circumvent transparency.
The Rio Grande Foundation has numerous open public records requests, to put it mildly:
The Foundation can’t even obtain the Gross Receipts Tax revenue figures without jumping over bureaucratic red tape. Simple requests for public records are being met with “extensions” because our requests for emails are “unnecessarily broad and burdensome”. This ongoing Coronavirus pandemic is a real and serious public health and economic crisis, which is now creating a transparency crisis, enabling our government to cite the health crisis as the reason for not providing properly requested emails and text messages.
If a government employee is working from home, why does the Coronavirus give them an excuse to not provide public records? What is the actual cause for the delay? I am frustrated, and it seems that the only path forward in obtaining public records is litigation. Is this the “new normal”?
On this week’s podcast, Paul and Wally give an update on the Virus situation. NM’s shutdown ends on the 15th at least in theory. Paul and Wally discuss what they expect to happen. Gallup is on lockdown. Eddy County sues Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for unfair emergency orders. Gov. (quietly) releases her plan for reopening New Mexico. A scary op-ed in the ABQ Journal urges her to keep NM shut down until at least June 15.
Economically, Gov. Lujan Grisham floats tapping the permanent fund to address the budget situation. Sen. John Arthur Smith pushes back. The new budget info is troubling. The latest projections show NM is facing a $1.8 billion to $2.4 billion gap. Looking at revenues of $5.5 billion to $6.1 billion.
The Santa Fe New Mexican editorial board argues we “Can’t Cut Way Out of Mess” Former Rep. Miera’s makes a facile case for not cutting K-12education.
Paul reminds listeners, especially legislators, of RGF’s pledge not to raise taxes.
Finally, Paul offers an update on the grocery tax situation, KOB TV did a story on it; the MLG Administration has applied for a waiver in response.
Finally, Paul offers a brief “Liberty on Quarantine” update.
On May 15 New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham will decide whether or not to continue her “stay-at-home” order or whether to continue relaxing restrictions as laid out in her plan for reopening New Mexico.
According to Wallethub, New Mexico has restrictions in place that place it among the 15 most-restrictive states in the nation. While the Gov. has (unwisely in our view per the “Fairly Open” plan we put together) placed the entire state in one “basket” in terms of reopening, she has placed further restrictions on the Four Corners/Gallup areas which have seen severe problems mostly centered around the Navajo Reservation (an area that undoubtedly deserves special treatment and help).
If the Gov. continues the shutdown for another month (as some would like) I believe the trickle of announcements of business closures will become more of a flood and that the damage to New Mexico’s economy will be multiplied in severity.
We STILL don’t have a serious economic response from the Gov. Tapping the Land Grant Permanent Fund is a cop-out and an effort to avoid responsibility and pass the buck, not a leadership response.
Friday is a VERY big day for New Mexico.
Former Rep. Rick Miera was in New Mexico’s Legislature for 21 years. Much of that time he chaired the House Education Committee and his fellow Democrats were in control of both the Senate and the Governor’s mansion. Yet, in his recent opinion piece he acknowledges that “education in New Mexico has been in crisis for decades.” This, despite the fact that New Mexico spends more per pupil than any of its neighbors, and has for years.
One might think that he would have done something about it in his decades of involvement. But, that’s not really my point here.
Miera is basically saying that policymakers shouldn’t cut education spending due to the ongoing Virus crisis and swoon in oil prices.
His approach is not very helpful. K-12 spending is about 46% of our budget while higher education consumes another 12% of the budget. It is hard to see how policymakers could balance the budget without touching 58% of the spending.
Miera offers no prioritization of education spending (early childhood, K-12, or higher ed) and he offers no details on what else he might cut out of the budget or even whether taxes should be raised.
At the Rio Grande Foundation we understand something that Miera and too many in the New Mexico Legislature have not understood for too long: trade-offs are real and they can be difficult and painful.
The Rio Grande Foundation recently called attention to some quirks in New Mexico’s gross receipts tax law with regard to grocery taxation. This drew the attention of KOB TV reporter Patrick Hayes.
Hayes not only put together the story below but in his work he confirmed that the Lujan Grisham Administration very recently applied to the federal government for a waiver that would make delivered groceries non-taxable.
Whether you think groceries should be taxed or not, the tax should be applied fairly and simply. With more New Mexicans than ever getting groceries delivered, we wanted to make sure people are not caught off guard.
On this week’s interview podcast, Paul sits down with Robert Graboyes a health policy expert with the Mercatus Center. Paul and Robert discuss the response to the Coronavirus epidemic by various health care systems. They also consider the impact on our health care of the Coronavirus and the potential positive as well as negative impacts the reaction to the Virus will have on our system.
Finally, Paul and Robert discuss Robert’s new “Healthcare and Openness Project” which gives New Mexico a solid overall ranking of 21 among US states.
You can see the map of results below:
UPDATE: According to Gov. Lujan Grisham’s spokesperson Nora Meyers Sackett, this plan was made available on May 1. We had obviously not seen it.
Among the many concerns that the Rio Grande Foundation has with the Gov.’s ongoing response to the Virus and economic crises facing New Mexico is the abject lack of transparency.
The Rio Grande Foundation obtained this document today. It is dated April 30 and it lays out some pretty specific plans for moving New Mexico’s economy forward beyond the Covid19 issue. Specifically, it addresses how businesses and regions will be treated.
As we at the Rio Grande Foundation have noted repeatedly, the Gov. has been AWOL when it comes to discussing the very significant budget issues facing our State due both to the oil and gas downturn (which could be a problem for years to come) and the shutdown-driven budget crisis.
The Rio Grande Foundation has been working to cement legislative opposition to tax hikes with its legislator/candidate pledge not to raise taxes.
In her first real discussion of the economy the Gov. discussed the idea of tapping into the permanent fund in an effort to avoid making any difficult decisions such as spending cuts or tax hikes. Because it requires votes of the Legislature AND a referendum, not to mention some Congressional action, the timing of tapping this money would be critical.
And, while he DOES face a primary, Sen. John Arthur Smith has been opposed to efforts to tap into the Permanent Fund in the past (for early childhood spending).
New Mexico has plenty of spending to cut, but New Mexico government didn’t get as bloated as it is through prudent fiscal management. If MLG were serious about addressing budget issues in a proactive manner she wouldn’t have waited nearly 2 months to get started. You can bet the debates over the Permanent Fund, spending cuts, and tax hikes are just getting started.
Gov. Lujan Grisham has named her Economic Recovery Council. Paul and Wally have a lot of thoughts about this Council, the lack of openness in terms of their work, how to contact them, and what their role is in terms of policy analysis/ideas.
At least a few folks (legislators) are discussing the budget publicly. Paul and Wally discuss what these legislative leaders are saying.
MLG begins loosening restrictions along the lines of our original 8 points (except in the Four Corners);
Gov. MLG shuts down Gallup upon what authority? Turns out she has EXTREMELY broad power under New Mexico law.
Grocery deliveries are taxed under NM’s Gross Receipts Tax. The issues behind it are complex, but it could cost you money if you have groceries delivered.
Finally, Paul and Wally discuss the importance of (and misuse of) data in the Coronavirus epidemic. The situation shows how data are misused in public policy discussions and how our education system fails to educate average Americans in the use of basic data.
With a primary election occurring in New Mexico in less than a month and the world having changed dramatically since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, we at the Rio Grande Foundation wanted to get Republican candidates for the US Senate in the primary to discuss the “new” world which we find ourselves in.
The Foundation has interviews lined up with all three candidates. The first interview happened on April 30, 2020 and was with Gavin Clarkson. You can find out more about Mr. Clarkson’s campaign here.
The Rio Grande Foundation does NOT endorse any candidate of ANY party. These interviews are an attempt to find out more about the views of each Senate candidate in a rapidly-changing economic and political environment.