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.

To her credit (and unlike many so-called “progressives” in the Legislature) Gov. Lujan Grisham acknowledges the harm being done to New Mexico by the Biden Administration’s moratorium on oil and gas permitting.

But, the Gov. doesn’t REALLY support the Industry against Biden. She is instead attempting to balance economic reality and New Mexico’s dependence on the Industry against pressure from radical environmentalists who form much of her political base.

IF the Gov. and her compatriots in New Mexico government (specifically AG Hector Balderas) truly cared about defending New Mexico workers and the economy, they’d be eater to join the 14 states that have filed suit against the Biden Administration over its permitting moratorium. I’m not holding my breath. And yes, while the Gov. doesn’t “control” the AG, she can certainly call publicly for action on his part on behalf of New Mexico. I’m not holding my breath.

The following analysis by American Petroleum Institute illustrates just how dependent New Mexico is on federal oil and gas leases. 62,000 jobs and $1.1 billion in state revenues are at stake.

Bad Bills that failed:

SB 149 Ban fracking;

SB 66 Would have limited credit options for low-income New Mexicans;

SB 11 So-called “Clean Fuel Standard” would mandate use of “alternative fuels” in vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions;

SB 130 Would require 75% of state vehicles be electric;

HB 206 provide two-tiered utility pricing for “poor”;

SJR 3 “Green” Constitutional Amendment;

Several bills to restrict gun rights;

HB 236 Sets up a bank to be run by the State of New Mexico;

SB 168 5 cents/gallon gas tax hike;

HB 110 $15/hour minimum wage;

Good bills that failed

Several bills to reduce/eliminate Social Security taxes;

Various bills/amendments to restrict a Gov.’s power in “emergency”;

HB 12 Marijuana legalization;

HJR 7 and HJR 11 would have granted school choice to New Mexico families

Other bills that failed

SB 155 Amend Energy Transition Act

The following appeared at KRWG and other news outlets on or around March 18, 2021. It was written by Policy Analyst Frank Pagurko:

On this week’s podcast conversation, Paul and Wally discuss the conclusion of the 2021 Legislative session. Gov. Lujan Grisham plans to call a special session to deal with marijuana legalization. Wally and Paul discuss whether that is a good idea. They discuss allegations of “bullying” and they discuss some of the most important bills that passed or failed in the legislative session.

Over the weekend rallies were held across New Mexico in support of reopening the State. Paul discusses what he saw at the Albuquerque rally.

Gov. MLG says New Mexico stands to lose $709 million between this fiscal year and 2025 if there’s a 10 percent decline in production.

Deb Haaland has been confirmed as Secretary of Interior. A CD 1 special election is set for June 1. The GOP field grows and the State central committees of both parties will soon be meeting to discuss the respective candidates.

And in a special segment, Paul visits with Grace Philips of the New Mexico Association of Counties about the impact House Bill 4, NM Civil Rights Act, will have on counties in New Mexico.

RGF tracked all of the bills in the 2021 Legislature and rated them based on their impact on your freedoms. You can find out about those bills and how your legislators did here at our Freedom Index site.

The following are some of the very worst bills that passed the 2021 New Mexico Legislature

SB 42: increases taxpayer contributions to the Education Retirement Board (ERB) with no additional input from employees. The bill also fails to make the fund solvent;

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;

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

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;

SB8: Gives local governments the ability to enact more restrictive air quality regulations than are imposed by the federal government;

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;

SB 84: Community Solar: Further reduces reliability of electrical grid by providing special incentives for solar providers;

HB 2: The New Mexico budget increases spending by an already-bloated State government and provides already-well-compensated and economically-stable State employees with pay raises;

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.

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned on Saturday. While most of the bills passed were NOT good, there were a few highlights which we’ll discuss in further blog posts this week. Gov. Lujan Grisham has announced (see this rather bizarre video) where she indicates she’ll soon call a special session to pass marijuana legalization legislation.

Here are a few of the BEST bills to pass this session:

HB 255: Liquor licensing reform. While the bill is messy and not entirely pro-freedom, the effort to undertake reform of New Mexico’s anti-business liquor licensing laws is probably the best pro-business legislation this session. RGF supported this legislation once a tax hike was eliminated from the bill on the Senate floor;

HB 177: Reduce restrictions on sale of non-perishable homemade food;

HB 278: Eliminates gross receipts tax pyramiding for certain “business to business” sales of manufactured goods;

HB 55: Increases transparency for capital outlay projects by requiring the publishing on the legislative website a searchable list of capital projects passed beginning with the 2022 Legislature;

SB 304: Creates legislative redistricting commission to draw lines for various political seats including Congress and the Legislature.

Various COVID related tax rebates and exemptions, especially those targeted at bars and restaurants also passed with bi-partisan support.

You can find out more about these and other bills along with (tentative at this point) ratings of legislators at the Foundation’s Freedom Index.

The following appeared in the “Speak Up” section of the Albuquerque Journal on Thursday, March 18, 2021. As the parent of students that HAVE attended Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) in the past, I wholeheartedly agree that “bashing” teachers is harmful. There are MANY hard working teachers at APS and other districts across our State.

HOWEVER, I DO wish more teachers who want to be in the classroom would have spoken out in some public way in favor of going back into their classrooms during the Pandemic. Unfortunately, the unions are very good at giving the impression that they are supported by ALL or MOST teachers.

More importantly, we have a systemic problem in American education. While my family (and others) can and will remove our children (as the author suggests) from a system that failed them, those resources simply revert to the District.

The FY 19-20 APS budget (mostly pre-pandemic), for example, was $1,475,755,646  to serve 79,363 students (also found in the budget document. That comes to a per-pupil expenditure of $18,595. If parents and families could access even a significant fraction of that cash in order to educate their kids at home or in a school of that family’s choosing, there would be considerably less animosity toward “teachers” and their unions.

Of course, it is noteworthy that the leading special interest group that opposes such choices in Santa Fe and other state capitols is the teachers union. Paying twice for education (once in the form of taxation and once for tuition) stinks, but after a year of home schooling my family is sending at least two of our children to school outside of APS.

On this week’s interview, Paul talks to Bruce Bunker about the science of climate change. Bunker is a chemist who studied the issue at Sandia National Labs. His professional work led him to write the book “The Mythology of Global Warming: Climate Change Fiction vs. Scientific Facts.” Bunker takes a scientific approach to the issue of man-cause climate change and the idea that it will have serious, negative repercussions for the planet or for humanity.

Corey DeAngelis is a national education expert who has led the push for school choice and getting kids back in classrooms in person nationwide. He will be in Albuquerque speaking to the Libre Initiative at the offices of Americans for Prosperity (see address below). The particulars (including Zoom information to watch the event online) are below. The event is FREE.

In late January of 2021, the Biden Administration imposed a moratorium on oil and gas permits on federal lands. New Mexico is heavily-dependent on oil and gas drilling on federal lands while Texas is not. You can see the results of the moratorium below. Gov. Lujan Grisham’s own Energy Department has noted the shift in rigs from New Mexico to Texas. 

New Mexico is in a budget surplus situation thanks to oil and gas, but as the following chart shows, that situation won’t last under these restrictive policies. Undoubtedly New Mexico is in a precarious position with regard to Biden’s moratorium.

This afternoon, at a time known only to the committee chair, the Senate Finance Committee will meet to hear a slate of bills. Among them is HB 291, yet another attempt to broadly raise taxes and stifle New Mexico’s economy. The property tax hike on second homes was amended out of the bill, but it still contains an added top income tax bracket and higher corporate taxes, among other changes. This is the last committee HB 291 needs to clear before it goes to the Senate floor.

You can watch the meeting webcast here, or contact the committee with your comments through the information contained here.

The Rio Grande Foundation has submitted testimony in opposition to HB 291.

On this week’s conversation, Paul and Wally discuss the fact that New Mexico’s COVID situation continues to improve. More counties are moving into turquoise, green, etc.

When will the Gov. relinquish her powers? There’s no indication of that. Paul works out with a mask on for the first time. The mainstream media is starting to acknowledge that lockdowns haven’t done anything to improve COVID outcomes.

NM unemployment rate is 8.7%, 48th in the nation. There is a clear pattern among the lowest and highest unemployment states.

The New Mexico Legislature is coming down the stretch with its conclusion on Saturday, here are some bills/issues to watch:

HB 291 is an economically-harmful tax hike. Recent changes make it even worse. Plus, why is the Legislature considering raising taxes with a surplus AND federal money flowing into NM?

The mandatory paid sick leave bill, HB 20 is likely to pass. It is headed to the Senate. The bill makes no exceptions for small businesses. According to the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, it would apply to babysitters, a leaf-raker hired for a single day’s work or a mom-and-pop shop with one part-time employee. All employees would accrue at least one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capping at 64 hours annually. It wouldn’t apply to government workers.

SB 42 pension bailout for the Education Retirement Board is unhelpful. 

HB 4 Civil Rights Act ready for final passage in Senate.

The Legislature still hasn’t passed a budget although initial appearances are that the Senate will go with pay hikes for state employees. Could there be a special session?

SB 130 which would have mandated that 75% of New Mexico’s fleet vehicles be electric failed in committee over the weekend:

No action will be taken this session on constraining Gov.’s powers. No bills OR the constitutional amendment are moving.

Trouble for HJR 1 pre-K amendment and pot legalization?

Rail Runner took a year off but you’d never know from looking at their budget.

What energy sources REALLY failed a few weeks ago in Texas?

Surprising absolutely no one (who, like us follows these things), the latest report from Wallethub (released today), finds New Mexico to be the VERY MOST dependent on the federal government. See the interactive map below and the two images below that which show that New Mexico is heavily-dependent both on federal grants AND contracts.

Given the spending binge going on in Washington and the incredible amounts of debt being taken on ($50 billion and rising fast at last count), reliance on the federal government is a precarious place to be, but that is how New Mexico “rolls.”

New Mexico’s Health Department recently released data indicating that 43 percent of the State’s population was on Medicaid. We commented on that here. Those comments were reflected in an Albuquerque Journal editorial that  concludes with the statement, “we need to find a way to kick-start and nourish a private sector that employs people and provides benefits including good health insurance.”

We agree with the Journal 100%. Not surprisingly, Gov. Lujan Grisham’s top health care staffers either don’t understand the argument or willingly ignore the point. David Scrase and Nicole Comeaux spend 600 plus words talking about how important Medicaid is and how it will help solve New Mexico’s poverty issues.

The problem is, of course, that welfare programs like Medicaid (even though New Mexico gets $4.76 from the feds for every dollar it spends) don’t actually do anything to bring people out of poverty. Rather, the growth of a strong private sector economy, improved educational outcomes, and broader economic prosperity do that.

Considering how poorly Scrase has handled the COVID health crisis this year, it is no surprise he doesn’t understand the economic problem with New Mexico’s bloated Medicaid rolls.

In a meeting scheduled for 10 A.M. today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear HB 20, a paid sick leave mandate. This is the bill’s last committee before it goes to the Senate floor.

You can watch the webcast here, or submit written testimony to the committee using the contact information here.

The Rio Grande Foundation has submitted testimony in opposition to HB 20.