On this week’s podcast discussion Paul and Wally discuss the George Floyd protests/riots in Albuquerque and around the nation.

The protests are happening in the shadow of COVID 19 with businesses having been shut down for several months. There are so many issues going on, but are cities as we know them dead?

SpaceX launches the first American manned space flight in nearly a decade to the International Space Station. This is a big day for privatized space flight and just in general good news for the country.

Gov. starts opening New Mexico a bit further. Paul and Wally discuss the details.

Primary election Tuesday. RGF got dragged into a SE NM primary. Paul and Wally discuss what is happening this primary election day.

Finally, online sales giant Amazon.com comes to NM. Paul and Wally share a few thoughts on this momentous occasion.

There were a lot of important races in New Mexico’s primaries last night, but the Rio Grande Foundation focuses on the Legislature (the main policymaking arm of New Mexico) and this post is going to focus on what happened in those races last night.

1. 1. 1. New Mexico’s “moderate” senators took it on the chin. John Arthur Smith was the most notable defeat which will have profound impacts on New Mexico’s fiscal future, but Clemente Sanchez and Mary Kay Papen were also taken down. The defeat of Smith means that come 2021 (barring a massive Republican upsurge in November) there will be little opposition to “progressive” efforts to tap the permanent fund at least in the Legislature. Gov. Lujan Grisham has already made tapping New Mexico’s permanent funds the centerpiece of her economic strategy. Her path to do that just got MUCH easier.
      2. From a fiscal conservative perspective, while Smith has done a lot of good for New Mexico there’s also no concern that he allowed spending to grow out of control on his watch. He’s allowed millions to be paid out in film subsidies and has generally been unable to do much to reform New Mexico’s broken tax code, economic incentives, or budget processes besides block attacks on the Land Grant Permanent Fund.
      3. With Smith gone the GOP (especially the Senate) will need to provide an ideological alternative as opposed to operating as a support structure for Democrats like John Arthur Smith. While there is no question that Smith is better than the progressive alternative on policy his presence also neutered many in the Senate GOP. Two additions to the Senate who defeated incumbent Republicans last night (Gregg Schmedes and David Gallegos) will hopefully provide a stronger “loyal opposition” in the Senate than has existed in the past, but the Senate is still likely to be a heavily-Democratic controlled body next year and those Democrats just became a lot more “progressive.”

The Rio Grande Foundation often comes under criticism from the left. But sometimes we come under fire from the right as well.

For starters we are designated as 501c3 “education and research” think tank. We don’t make endorsements and we don’t “carry water” for any political party or politician. Various media outlets have called us libertarian, conservative, and free market. We call ourselves “free market,” but we don’t waste our breath and time arguing the finer points of ideology because we believe that our work is self-explanatory.

For starters, New Mexico is a deeply challenged state. We believe that a vast majority of these issues are self-inflicted. New Mexico lacks economic freedom and remains poorer and less well educated than our neighbors. We also spend a VAST majority of our time focused on state and local issues as opposed to federal ones.

Those issues broadly include:

1. Size of Government: New Mexico has long been a state driven by government. Data show that state/local spending is too high and that government regulations make doing business in New Mexico less attractive than doing business elsewhere. We’ve worked on this issue from all angles including: all forms of taxation, subsidies and corporate welfare (notably film subsidies), but also LEDA, JTIP, and “green” subsidies.
2. Regulation: Rio Grande Foundation has led the charge for “right to work” repeal of NM’s”Davis-Bacon” law, reform of government employee pensions, and against numerous “nanny state” regulations like plastic bag bans. We have also done extensive work against “green” programs from the Energy Transition Act to costly “green” building codes.
3.   School Choice/Education Reform: Across the political spectrum New Mexicans agree that our K-12 system is failing. While politicians of both parties typically opt for some combination of more money, more time in school (pre-K), and some form of top-down accountability, the Rio Grande Foundation believes that parents and (to an extent students themselves) are better able to decide on the educational options that appeal to them. Charter schools are a good start and should be expanded, but more options are needed.

Additionally, the Rio Grande Foundation supports the US and New Mexico Constitutions, we stand up for free speech, gun rights, private property, and open government.

We don’t take on immigration, gay rights, or abortion issues.

So, there you have it. We at the Rio Grande Foundation have our plates very full, but we are making a difference in New Mexico every day. If that appeals to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today!

(Albuquerque, NM) – The voters of Albuquerque voted against Democracy Dollars in November of 2019, and the Rio Grande Foundation played a pivotal part in the defeat of the ballot measure. Furthermore, the Rio Grande Foundation won an ethics complaint against the Mayor for his use of the City’s website (CABQ.gov) in which he specifically called for voters to approve Democracy Dollars and other bond measures.

Just under a year ago the Rio Grande Foundation wondered if/when the online retailing giant Amazon.com would have a warehouse presence in New Mexico.

Recently, of course, it was announced that Amazon would indeed be building a distribution center in Albuquerque and creating 1,000 or so jobs. Better still, so far as we know, while Bernalillo County is spending $6 million on infrastructure and utilities, no major subsidies were required to bring Amazon here.  This is pretty much ALL good news for the local economy.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Contrary to some on the left (see Tweet below), the issue of Internet sales taxes didn’t play a role in Amazon’s decision. They are a big company with lots of physical locations nationwide and actually lobbied FOR Internet taxation.  It is actually small businesses with one physical location that are most impacted by Internet taxes.

.

• Recent changes to interpretations made by the US Supreme Court companies doing business online like Amazon only had to collect taxes on Internet sales if they had a physical presence. A few years that changed and New Mexico like many other states could collect sales taxes without a physical presence.
• While Amazon coming to town is good news for the local/State economy the overall economy is what matters, not the comings and goings of individual businesses. Rockwell just left. Amazon just came. There are many other businesses opening and closing every day. New Mexico remains relatively unfriendly to business and unless some needed policy reforms are enacted, that isn’t going to change.

There are a few intense battles in New Mexico going on among GOP candidates for Senate seats. We’ve weighed in on the race for Jim White’s seat, but Rep. David Gallegos is challenging Sen. Gregg Fulfer for his SE-New Mexico Senate seat and our Freedom Index has been used quite a bit.

In a debate posted here on Facebook (go to nearly the end at 1 hour 57 minutes) the Rio Grande Foundation and its Freedom Index became an issue. You can check the add run by the Gallegos campaign below which uses an accurate interpretation of our “Freedom Index” vote tracking system.

While RGF never attacked Fulfer, his statements regarding the Rio Grande Foundation expose his basic misunderstanding of our “libertarian” limited government, free market philosophy.

He implies that the Rio Grande Foundation rejects that our nation was founded on biblical principles, claims that we support legalizing “all” drugs, and claims we support allowing transgender boys into girls’ bathrooms and for them to compete against girls in sports.

Simply put, none of these statements are true.

The Rio Grande Foundation is a think tank. We work on economic and education policy issues to restore choice and personal responsibility. We HAVE endorsed the idea of marijuana legalization (based on criminal justice, personal freedom, and economic issues) but RGF has never endorsed legalization of ALL drugs.

We have Freedom Index data going back to 2015 (go to our webpage and look for the Freedom Index Link). Fulfer has been in the Legislature since 2019. He’s voted as moderate Republican during that time period. Gallegos, on the other hand, is a conservative within the Republican caucus in the House which is more conservative than the Senate GOP.

Whether the voters or candidates agree with the Rio Grande Foundation’s take on the issues is up for them to decide, but it is important to clear the air when the Foundation is accused of taking positions on issues it simply hasn’t taken.

On June 1 New Mexico will open further under the latest health order from Gov. Lujan Grisham. We welcome this positive step.

Notably, after preventing drive in theaters from opening (both in Las Vegas AND a one-night showing in Rio Rancho) Gov. Lujan Grisham made a specific point of opening drive in theaters. She also reopened hair salons, barbers, and gyms.

Houses of worship remain at just 25% which seems unnecessarily low, but the biggest issue at this point is that bars and breweries remain completely closed. When those will open is anyone’s guess, but we’ve seen massive growth in the home-grown brewery business and it seems hard to justify their closure at this point (especially since many of them have more plentiful outdoor patio areas than restaurants).

The strict limitation on large groups remains in effect and she is setting herself up for some very controversial and difficult decisions over Balloon Fiesta and the State Fair in the very near future.

Blair Dunn is a hard-charging New Mexico attorney who loves to sue the government (and often wins). He and Paul sit down this week to discuss the legality of the current “lockdown” situation in New Mexico. From whence do politicians (including Gov. Lujan Grisham) derive their powers? What can or should citizens do about it? Additionally, Paul and Blair consider the importance of open and transparent government during this crisis and discuss some of the actions he and the Foundation have taken together to defend open and transparent government in New Mexico.

You don’t want to miss this wide-ranging and timely discussion.

With so many in person events on hold these days organizations, especially political ones, are working overtime to figure out ways to keep momentum and activism going without meeting in person.

The Los Alamos GOP recently invited RGF president Paul Gessing to present information on New Mexico’s economy and the prospective recovery from the Virus shutdown and oil/gas price decline. You can watch the webinar below. Or, if your group would like to host a similar discussion, contact the Rio Grande Foundation at: info@riograndefoundation.org or 505-264-6090. We can even “host” through our Zoom account!

On this week’s discussion podcast Paul and Wally acknowledge and appreciate the soldiers who have fought for the United States and died in battle. In part due to the relative lack of options this particular holiday, Paul and Wally record the podcast on Memorial Day itself.

As has become tradition in recent months the two offer the latest updates on COVID 19 starting with the fact that New Mexico’s special session is now scheduled for June 18. The Gov. seems to think the State is in great shape due to the existence of a “rainy day fund” totaling about $1.7 billion, but Wally and Paul beg to differ.

Also, an NM In Depth story asserts that public schools may avert deep cuts (at least in the June session). Paul believes the Gov. is waiting until after the November election to make the tough decisions.

New Mexico is among the strictest US states when it comes to being locked down according to a report from Wallethub.

A recent report from the Wall Street Journal argues that the Coronavirus slowdown and drop in oil prices threatens the shale boom for years. Wally is more hopeful.

Paul discusses candidates of both parties in the ongoing primary elections who have and haven’t signed the Rio Grande Foundation’s pledge not to raise taxes.

Finally, in a scary story that has the support of the Gov., New Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism says that New Mexico may potentially not have meetings of 100+ people for a year or 18 months. This would mean the cancellation of many events that make New Mexico so unique including the Balloon Fiesta not just for this year but for two years, not to mention sports, weddings, the State Fair, and many more.

Conservative have LOTS of disagreements with former NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D), but there’s no doubt about two things:

1. He’s to the right politically of the current Gov. (Richardson was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and achieved major tax cuts);
2. Richardson is a politically savvy guy who has his finger more or less on the pulse of the current political situation.

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:

1. Gross receipts taxes are the most volatile tax due to rapid swings in economic activity. Property taxes are more stable because property values change more slowly.
2. The drop in GRT has been exacerbated during this shutdown because Bill Richardson and the Legislature eliminated taxes on groceries while raising the rate on everything else. Since grocery stores are one of the few businesses open during this crisis, most current economic activity has been untaxed.
3. GRT-reliant cities/counties (especially those most reliant on GRT like Las Cruces) should be acting right away to address impending downturns.

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. 

Taxpayer Protection Pledge Non-Signers

Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers

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 44^thmost open or, with the inclusion of Washington, DC, 7^thleast open. There is a clear partisan divide among the “openers” and “closers.” Until you hit Ohio, the 14^thmost “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 14^thmost-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 19^th, 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 31^stmost 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.

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