We at the Rio Grande Foundation have found the New York Times’ website tracking COVID 19 to be very useful in better understanding the important data surrounding the Virus and the State of New Mexico’s response to it.

Watch this short, 3 minute video and you too will better understand the situation.

A digital map is also available:

The video below from KRQE Channel 13 is short but shocking. It would seem that, especially in areas where there has been a minimal impact from COVID 19 that kids SHOULD go back to school this fall. It is good for their development and their mental states according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Is the Lujsan Grisham using school closure to force parents to stay home and not go back to work as this video suggests? If so, it is nothing short of immoral.

Katharine Stevens is an expert in early childhood and education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank based in Washington, DC. She has followed the policy discussion in New Mexico for several years and has examined both the Legislative Finance Committee’s new report on early childhood and read Gov. Lujan Grisham’s recent op-ed on the issue.

The following opinion piece appeared in the Carlsbad Current Argus and several other papers on or around July 13, 2020.

Recently, a judge denied a request made by the Lujan Grisham Administration that the Yazzie lawsuit be dropped. That lawsuit claims that New Mexico’s K-12 system is “inadequate.” Many would argue that our K-12 system has long been “inadequate” due to the State’s poor outcomes.

We wholeheartedly agree that New Mexico’s education system has long been “inadequate,” though the issue is not a lack of funding. The ongoing COVID 19 pandemic has exposed the many inadequacies of our K-12 system as well. Parents (and when schools closed this spring, I had two children in public schools) were abruptly forced into the role of home-school teacher in March.

A return to “normalcy” is not on the horizon and that will truly challenge our K-12 system. In advance of the start of school in less than one month, the Public Education Department has presented us with a highly-restrictive proposed opening plan for the fall school year. The hybrid learning model (partially online and partially in-person) is a worthwhile effort, but even staunch advocates of online learning recognize that not all children learn well in a digital environment. That especially includes younger children.

The challenges of computer and broadband access in many parts of our State raise all kinds of additional questions and problems for students, parents, educators, and administrators alike.

The “virtual” experience this spring was cobbled together and disorganized. We hope for something better this fall, but with mask requirements for students and staff alike, social-distancing, and numerous other restrictions, there will be a big increase in demand for alternatives.

A recent RealClear Opinion Research survey of registered voters shows that support for educational choice show that 40% of families are more likely to homeschool or virtual school due to the lockdowns. The poll further found that 64% support school choice. In other words, home schooling, virtual learning, and private schools having more flexible learning models are all going to be explored and likely followed by increasing numbers of New Mexicans.

With so many New Mexicans looking for educational options or even taking on the task of educating their own children, shouldn’t the tax dollars they pay into the system follow the child? Shouldn’t parents have the resources made available to purchase computers and other curriculum materials for their children or, if they prefer, shouldn’t they be able to send their child to the school of their own choice? All of these choices involve major time and financial sacrifices by parents in tough economic times. Rather than penalizing these families, we believe the funding should follow the child and help them directly.

The Rio Grande Foundation has long advocated for school choice in New Mexico. But unions and the political establishment have stood in the way. With the advent of the COVID 19 epidemic we have seen a rapid disruption in traditional education techniques. Problems with our one-size-fits-all K-12 model have laid bare the true “inadequacies” of our educational system. The “old” model of students in one building in lines of desks will likely not return for some time and possibly forever.

The most innovative model available today is “Education Savings Accounts” or ESA’s. There are five ESA active programs in five states: Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. While the details vary by State the basic idea is to allow parents to withdraw their children from public district or charter schools and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts. Those funds can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, educational therapies, community college costs, and other higher education expenses.

ESA programs are less well-established than other “school choice” programs like charter schools, vouchers, tax credits, and home schooling, but the pandemic is a big problem and policymakers need to have big and innovative solutions. Now, more than ever, those solutions will not work for all students.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

As we have learned throughout this crisis, policy conclusions can often be driven by how you look at the data. The New York Times is actually doing a fantastic job of tracking COVID 19 data. They provide data in ways that quite frankly are not being done (at least not publicly) by Gov. Lujan and David Scrase.

Here is one useful map. The highlighted counties have ZERO deaths from COVID 19. One could travel from East to West through New Mexico or North to South through our State without so much as entering a county that has seen a death from COVID 19 after more than 4 months.

Below that map is a screen shot directly from the Times website. We will provide additional posts using this data over the next day or so.

On this week’s Tipping Point New Mexico podcast Paul and Wally discuss the Gov.’s latest orders which are making waves. Paul and Wally discuss a ridiculous tweet from Democrat State Rep. Liz Thomson. Finally, Wally and Paul address the Gov.’s order to wear masks at all times in public.

The Albuquerque Journal runs an opinion piece by Gov. MLG in which she makes a fact-free push for pre-K. RGF is making the case during this time of possible (additional) school disruptions that K-12 funds must follow the child.

The finances of NM’s “major” college football teams will undoubtedly take a big hit this fall. The University is ALREADY saying its financial outlook is “Incredibly Depressing.”

NM’s PED secretary is working from Philly. The media is rather quiet about the issue and people that would have raised problems with that kind of arrangement during the Skandera Administration (like unions) would have raised serious concerns about this situation but have not.

According to news reports “artists” are now using the blank canvas provided by the boarded up downtown businesses destroyed in recent riots to express their artistry. Not surprisingly, “art” is in the eye of the beholder and if you drive on Central (where most of the destruction occurred) it looks like just one long graffiti wall.

The photos below were taken at the New Mexico Bank and Trust building downtown on Gold Street on Monday, July 13. Do businesses get to approve the “art” placed on their walls?

UPDATE: The following information was provided by Leland Sedberry who is involved in commercial real estate in Albuquerque.

I just reread the contract sent to me. the section pertaining to art on boarded up windows is actually stated as an “option” for property owners, and the owners may even choose their own artists. the catch 22 is that the city is only allowing you two choices, either replace the glass using their contractor or agree to the mural “option” where they can provide the artist or the owners can pick their own. Combined with the Mayor publicly stating that if businesses don’t replace their glass, the City will start issuing Code violations, I wouldn’t consider it much of an “option”.

In what can only be called a blatant swipe at the restaurant industry, Rep. Liz Thomson (D-ABQ) put the following post up on Twitter on Monday, July 13.

The obvious implication is that any business that defies the Gov.’s order to shut down indoor service is “dangerous” and likely not obeying basic safety precautions. She also seems to believe that, left to their own devices, restaurants would simply poison or kill their customers.

The egregious leftists over at ProgressNow NM didn’t have a change of heart, but boy are we going to spread around their tweet below which takes a swipe at NM Restaurants by “Putting people over profits.” This mistake might just be the nicest thing Progress Now has ever said about a business!

On a variety of issues Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham seems to have a tenuous relationship at best with facts and science. Again, the Albuquerque Journal gave her space on its opinion pages for yet another article, this time on her push for “early childhood education.”

Set aside the fact that by her own hand New Mexico’s K-12 system was shut down for 1/4th of LAST year and THIS school year’s start is very much in doubt (even with a “hybrid” model, masks, and “social distancing.”

But, MLG wants to “keep the momentum going” on her latest big-spending plans for your children. MLG starts by stating that, “it’s important to understand that these rankings are based on 2018 data, the latest available. They also reflect years of budget cuts for essential early education and human services programs.” As shown in the report below from New Mexico Indepth, her statement is verifiably false.

Early childhood funding has risen every year, often rather dramatically. Rather than pushing for MORE spending on these programs, perhaps the Gov. should find out why our KIDS Count rating (even using 2018 data) hasn’t budged from 50th despite a massive expansion of early childhood programs over the last decade.

As an aside, while the Gov. pushes for more early childhood spending she recently attempted to get the State out of the Yazzie lawsuit which demands more K-12 spending.

Paul and his family recently visited Yellowstone National Park. Normally this would not be news (or podcast) worthy, but when the Governor of New Mexico threatens out-of-state travelers and unilaterally imposes a 14-day self-quarantine, it becomes an incredibly important political issue.

Paul discusses several aspects of the trip including the various states he traveled through and their relative openness or closedness. He also discusses some other ways in which the Governor and her decisions are impacting aspects of family life. You can see a few photos from the trip below:

The Rio Grande Foundation has repeatedly argued that deaths are the appropriate way to measure the impact of this Virus on our State. As the chart below from the New York Times shows, while a small uptick has happened recently, the rolling average in terms of deaths in New Mexico is well below where it was back in mid-May and during most of this crisis.

Have restaurants caused the increased spread of the virus? The Gov. doesn’t tell us. The Gov. didn’t impose as mask requirement until mid-May. What has the impact of that requirement so far and is there any evidence as to the effectiveness or lack thereof of that requirement (or the newly-imposed requirement) on the Virus.

When comparing New Mexico with other states, our deaths per-million rate is better than Colorado or Arizona, but still much worse than Texas, Oklahoma, or Utah. At 254 per-million we are ranked 21st (from highest) overall as of July 9, 2020. 

“Way” back on June 23, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said “you’re welcome” in response to a tweet from the New Mexico GOP asking her to reopen New Mexico’s economy.” Now, of course as the Gov. just announced, New Mexicans face a raft of new restrictions. Who does the Gov. blame? YOU, of course!

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is shutting down indoor dining at restaurants and breweries and wants people to wear masks at ALL TIMES. Her new order takes effect on Monday (delaying the announcement for three days from making it). But, the new restrictions will have profound, negative consequences for New Mexico’s restaurant industry and its employees. And, of course, numerous businesses throughout our State remain completely closed thanks to the Gov. You can watch her press conference and read more about her orders here.

Recently, I co-authored a piece with national tax leader Grover Norquist arguing that tax hikes should NOT be enacted when the New Mexico Legislature returns in January.

A response ran at KRWG, the Las Cruces public television station. While the author claimed the mantle of supporting tax reform, he made the unfounded claim that, “For over 50 years, conservative policy proposals have been reducing taxes and regulations, destroying unions, and building wealth for billionaires on the backs of average workers.”

This left-wing talking point belies the fact that New Mexico’s tax and government systems do have big problems. The Rio Grande Foundation responded with this article which in part argued,

While we know that the K-12 system is going to require a lot of money to open in a post-COVID environment, the Gov. and Legislature kept $300 of the $320 million in the FY 2021 budget that was allocated to fund a brand new pre-K fund. The Legislature also spent $5 million for the Gov.’s “free” college programs and did not touch massive film subsidies which the Legislative Finance Committee says cost $150 million annually.

And this issue is something that all New Mexicans should agree on. While exemptions and deductions are definitely open to question, film subsidies are tax dollars collected by the State and then sent to Hollywood film studios. This is awful public policy and should be ended at once.

Tax and subsidy reform are long-overdue in New Mexico. Taking more money from hard-working New Mexicans in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is simply not the right way to solve this problem.

Two months after the Rio Grande Foundation broke the story with Patrick Hayes and KOB TV, Morgan Lee of the Associated Press did a story about groceries in New Mexico being taxed when delivered by certain stores.

The story was fine and provided what amounts to an update on what we discussed back in early May, but the more notable aspects of the story involved some quotes by House Tax Committee Chairman and “progressive” Javier Martinez. His quotes directly from the story are below.

Martinez seems inclined to cover for the Gov.’s unfair and arbitrary orders that shut down all manner of small businesses under COVID 19 while keeping “big box” stores open by imposing new taxes on said “big box stores.” Obviously, this is concerning for anyone who cares about New Mexico’s economic recovery:

On this week’s discussion podcast, Paul and Wally discuss the ABQ City Council’s recent actions on mandatory paid sick leave. Council recently voted down pandemic hazard pay and postponed a vote on paid sick leave. Council did pass an ordinance that requires businesses to give their employees masks and enforce mask-wearing in their facilities. In an ABQ Journal piece, businesses respond to the renewed threat of more regulation and express dire concerns about the future.

Gov. MLG extends her health order through July 15. The Gov. cites travelers to New Mexico, increased spread to younger people. $100 fine for not wearing masks in public. Mandatory 14-day quarantine for all out-of-state travelers into New Mexico, whether traveling by air or by vehicle. Hotels and other places of lodging are expected to enforce the 14-day travel quarantine for any out-of-state visitors and report non-compliance to state health authorities. Paul talks to KOAT Channel 7 about the City of Albuquerque spending $100,000 on “COVID Safe Fireworks”

The ABQ Journal has a touching story regarding “Shadow Deaths of the Virus”

Paul discusses why it especially touched him.

Another ABQ Journal piece quotes a homeless man who compares ABQ to Detroit and calls Downtown “Dreary, Depressed, Ugly”

Charles Sullivan writes a piece about the Spaceport boondoggle while the facility’s CEO Dan Hicks has been placed on Administrative Leave.

Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing recently penned this op-ed along with Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. The piece appeared in numerous publications around the State.

New Mexico is facing a budget deficit due to the combined forces of Gov. Lujan Grisham’s shut down of the New Mexico economy and reduced oil production. It is of the utmost importance that the Legislature not increase the economic pain by raising taxes.

Despite plummeting revenues, the Legislature STILL saw fit to increase spending this year. New Mexico is currently set to spend $7 billion, more than one billion dollars more than it will take from taxpayers: $5.9 billion.

When the 2021 Legislative session convenes, significant budget challenges will remain even with the national economy regaining jobs (May saw an increase in employment of 2.5 million, the highest monthly gain in history.) The easy, traditional response to overspending is to blame the taxpayers for not sending in more cash. The Legislature will look at their own overspending and standing on their heads call it a “revenue shortfall.”

Under normal circumstances, tax increases of any kind result in economic harm. After months of “non-essential” businesses being forced to close and many people being out of work, tax increases would be devastating.

During these difficult times, families across New Mexico have had to tighten their belts. The legislature should control its appetite. It should not say of taxpayers: “let them eat cake.” (Heavily taxed cake.)

This should not be too hard for them to do. If they are serious. Over the years, New Mexico’s spending has increased well beyond the rate of population and inflation. Government spending has increased faster than the paychecks of taxpayers. And that is before the current big-spending Gov. Lujan Grisham and her legislative allies came into office.

Based on data from the National Association of Budget Officers’ State Expenditure Report from 2011 and 2019, total state spending in New Mexico increased roughly 33.6% from 2010 to 2019. Over that same time period, New Mexico’s population increased just 1.8%, according to a report from the United States Census Bureau, and inflation increased 17.2%.

State government in New Mexico has grown a whopping 14.6% faster than population and inflation did over the last decade. There is absolutely no “need” to raise taxes. Particularly not after last year, when a $350 million tax hike – which some are calling the largest in state history – was heaped on top of a $1 billion surplus.

New Mexicans cannot afford higher taxes. A 2018 report from the Mercatus Center measured and ranked all 50 states based on various tax and budget data. On the issue of “service-level solvency” – how high taxes, revenues, and spending are when compared to state personal income – the Mercatus report found that New Mexico was the state least able to raise taxes without harming the economy. New Mexicans couldn’t afford higher taxes in 2018 when the economy was booming. They certainly can’t handle higher taxes now.

Americans oppose tax hikes as the nation struggles to recover economically from COVID 19. A recent Wallethub poll found that just 28% of Americans “think that tax rates should increase to fund coronavirus recovery efforts.” Overwhelmingly – a whopping 72% – people do not think taxes should rise. Even former Governor Bill Richardson (D) has voiced his opposition to tax increases during this time:

“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.”

Struggling businesses are doing everything they can to avoid cutting hours and laying off employees. Some have already had to move forward with these difficult decisions. Individual taxpayers and families are already seeing their paychecks dwindle.

The last thing the people of New Mexico need right now is to hand more of their paychecks over to the politicians.

Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation. Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform. Gessing and Norquist are encouraging all candidates and elected officials to take the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written commitment to taxpayer across New Mexico that they will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to raise taxes.

Recently, RGF’s president Paul Gessing took a family trip through a number of neighboring states to vacation in Yellowstone National Park. The trip took us through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

From the COVID 19 perspective these states have been less impacted than New Mexico (aside from Colorado) at least if you measure by deaths per million.  A new report by Wallethub finds New Mexico to be among the most shut down states in the nation while Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming (states in which we traveled and stayed in on our trip) are among the most open. Even Colorado which is listed as being locked down like New Mexico had the hotel pool open and local governments were apparently granted great flexibility in their COVID 19 policies (a concept we have discussed extensively).

Here are some impressions: When traveling with kids on the road, having a swimming pool is HUGE. Hotels in Utah, Wyoming, and even Colorado had swimming pools open. New Mexico has them open only for lap swimming which kids don’t do.

Most employees in various restaurants wore masks (probably at the behest of their employers), but most patrons in restaurants didn’t. In West Yellowstone, Montana, the “touristy” places were socially-distanced, but the “townie” places were not.

At Yellowstone itself the lodges in the Park were all closed, but the campgrounds were all full. The Park itself was about 75% of normal July 4 weekend capacity. Many people did wear masks around the major sites, but most did not.

One playground we visited in Ennis, MT had a common-sense solution: a hand-washing station. Another playground in Durango was FULL of kids playing and adults watching them while no one was wearing masks at all.

A few photos of the trip are below. As an aside, it felt great to get out of town and do something “normal.” I discuss further details in an upcoming episode of TippingPointNM:

In honor of Independence Day this week we will feature one Tipping Point New Mexico podcast. But, we are thrilled to have Bradley Birzer, an American History professor at Hillsdale College on this week. Dr. Birzer and Paul discuss various well-known and more obscure figures in the Founding of America and some of the great accomplishments of the Founding. Dr. Birzer has a book about Andrew Jackson and the two discuss Jackson and his legacy.

Finally, given all the tearing down of monuments happening in America right now Paul and Dr. Birzer discuss the evolving judgments of important figures in American history from the Founding through Jackson and to the Confederacy on issues relating to slavery as well as Native Americans.

Birzer publishes regularly at The Imaginative Conservative.

The Rio Grande Foundation always is on the lookout for unnecessary government spending. With this Independence Day “on lockdown” the City of Albuquerque chose to spend nearly $100,000 to put on four fireworks displays instead of the usual one at Balloon Fiesta Park (which actually cost the City zero).

This fact was not discussed in the recent KOAT Channel 7 story in which briefly shared my thoughts on the issue. In reality, the City could have modified  their one fireworks display to embrace reasonable social distancing guidelines (just as it seems could have been done with Balloon Fiesta. Instead, in a time of budget issues the City is spending nearly $100,000 for four displays throughout the City in order to keep  people at home.

Click the picture below for the full story:

Anyone who knows that he’s not a huge fan of fireworks. Hanging out in a car and watching the big City display from a nearby park is his preferred approach. It is strange and unfortunate that the City couldn’t come up with an innovative approach that brought Albuquerque residents together (safely) rather than keeping them apart.

In a moment of sanity Monday night Albuquerque’s City Council voted down a proposal to offer “hazard pay” to force businesses to pay workers during the pandemic more and a separate plan that would have created a new mandatory sick leave plan was withdrawn.

The sick leave ordinance would have required businesses that are within Albuquerque’s city limits to give full-time employees 80 hours of sick pay until the end of the year and create a new paid sick leave mandate. 80 hours of sick pay would be 2 full weeks during the last 25 or so weeks of the year.

The Council’s reasonableness is welcome, but of course we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to mandatory paid sick leave. Voters have previously rejected such plans and yet Councilors like Ike Benton keep pushing the issue. At least for now businesses that have been hammered by the economic shutdown, destructive riots, the loss of Balloon Fiesta and the State Fair, and many other economic drivers won’t face additional costs…for now.

Charles Sullivan writing at the popular American Thinker website takes apart Spaceport America in a recent column. He also generously mentions the Rio Grande Foundation and our tireless efforts to oppose and shed light on the poor prospects for the facility.

Yes, as reported, Virgin Galactic had a 2nd successful “glide” landing last week, but that is a very long way indeed from regular commercial space launches that take customers to the edge of space.

While we at the Rio Grande Foundation share the hopes of all New Mexicans that successful launches will eventually take place at the facility, it was always a mistake for the political leadership of our state to spend hundreds of millions of our tax dollars on the facility which has now been open for nearly a decade.

When will Virgin Galactic launch its first group of paying customers? I’d bet the farm it won’t be 2020. Maybe 2021 or 2022? The fact is that we have no idea and neither do they. A decade in and Charles Sullivan’s critique is relevant when the discussion turns to FUTURE taxpayer-financed projects.

Then, Paul and Jason turn their attention to the sick leave mandate being considered in the City of Albuquerque and how that anti-business ordinance would hit businesses at a time when many of them are just recovering from being shut down or are STILL shut down by the Governor’s orders.