Don’t get any ideas. We haven’t gone “Corona Crazy” at the Rio Grande Foundation. We vehemently disagree with Michael Moore almost across the board. But his new documentary Planet of the Humans, (which is embedded below and can be viewed for free)  contains a stunning evisceration of so-called green energy and the people profiting from it. It was released on April 21st for free viewing on YouTube .

Much of the early portion of the movie (an hour or so) amounts to a well-done takedown of “green” policies like New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act. In other words, leftists DO understand the real drawbacks to “clean” energy in the sense that they actually wind up being more polluting than the original fossil fuels they purport to replace.

The  film approaches the environment from a position to the LEFT of the “mainstream” environmental movement.  You won’t agree with it, but it is NOT made for you. Send it to your liberal friends. They can’t turn down Michael Moore, right?



For more on Planet of the Humans, James Delingpole has a great column on Breitbart and the Washington Times has published an excellent article by Valerie Richardson. The Guardian’s review is also worth reading.

The following is a guest article written by Madelyn Jones. She owns a bridal store here in Albuquerque.

As the owner of a bridal store here in Albuquerque I am furious about the current shutdown and the way it has been carried out. The Gov. has single-handedly trampled my livelihood and the Constitution. Worse, we the people have no recourse.

Here is my story.

Bridal gowns are dresses that are ordered from the factories of the bridal designers. Unlike regular merchandise dresses are not in a warehouse ready to go. They are made when the bride orders. The process takes from 6 months or more to get the dresses.

When the dress arrives we have to process it by looking at the dress for problems along with steaming the dress and contacting the bride for her try on to make sure everything is ready to go. Along with the bride’s dress are the other orders for bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and tuxedos. Everything is done by ordering and paying ahead of time.

We followed the rules and closed our store to new business and furloughed our employees. We went to the store everyday because we have shipments arriving daily that we have to pick up and process so the customer can pick up their purchases. All of this can be done through appointments and minimal to no social contact.

Our store was checked one day by the fire department for being closed which we were. We were OK’d . Since then APD traffic division came and removed us from the building saying we could not be in our store at all and issued a warning document that says if we are found in the store again we will be fined, jailed and or lose our business license.

Our major concern is that we have 35 dresses waiting in our store for brides and this is the busiest time of the year for weddings and we can’t access their dresses without disobeying the rules.

We are very concerned about our business and our employees but our customers have paid for their purchase and are being denied their product. I am no lawyer or doctor but common sense tells me government has overstepped its boundaries.

Our Governor has changed the all clear date so many times, I no longer believe that she has any intention of opening businesses until she is forced to by businesses opening up without her permission.

The Rio Grande Foundation and Power the Future New Mexico are collecting petitions for a plan to “Fairly Open New Mexico” that applies science and data to ALL businesses and activities in a transparent and consistent fashion.

Dr. Lisa Shin is an optometrist with a private practice based in Los Alamos, NM. She is on the board of the Rio Grande Foundation and she spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016. She is also Korean-American.

Dr. Shin and Paul discuss the economic shutdown and how it is impacting her business. They also talk about the importance of eye care in diagnosing other health issues. Finally, how is the loss of tax revenue and jobs in health care impacting New Mexico and its economy.

Dr. Shin presents specific precautions which she plans to use when the Governor allows her to reopen her office post-Coronavirus.

Albuquerque – The Rio Grande Foundation and Power The Future New Mexico joined together to launch FairlyOpen.com on Thursday. “Fairly Open New Mexico” calls upon leaders in Santa Fe to take responsible actions to get New Mexicans back to work and restart our state’s lagging economy. Since “non-essential” businesses were shut down, more than 70,000 New Mexicans have filed to receive unemployment. Across the state, small business leaders are pleading with leaders in Santa Fe for help.

The two organizations that make up “Fairly Open New Mexico” are not asking for easing of regulations but asking for those regulations to be applied fairly. Specific actions include:

• Allow small businesses to reopen at the same standards applied to large box stores.
• A detailed plan for reopening, including required health criteria, to be used for businesses to reopen. This should be a public document.
• This plan should recognize not all counties are the same and should include scientific reasoning upon which restrictions are being based.
• Governor Lujan Grisham and her administration should immediately share the models upon which they are basing their quarantine/business restriction decisions.
• The Governor should hold virtual-meetings to answer questions with county commissions and local leaders across New Mexico.
• The Governor should outline her budget and economic policy recommendations for the upcoming special session as well as any cuts she has already made to the State government.

“New Mexicans want to halt the spread of the Covid 19 virus, but they also want to live their lives and get back to work. The Gov. needs to make planning for the future an open and fair process” said Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundation.

“While we fight a public health emergency, the economic devastation across our state can’t continue to be ignored,” said Larry Behrens, Western States Director for Power The Future. “Families all across our state have more questions than answers from leaders in Santa Fe and they deserve better. New Mexicans can be trusted to know how to best protect themselves and their communities as they begin the long road back to recovery.”

New Mexicans who support this effort are encouraged to go to FairlyOpen.com and sign the petition.

Contact: Paul Gessing – 505-264-6090, pgessing@riograndefoundation.org

Larry Behrens – 505-699-2302, larry@powerthefuture.com

The Rio Grande Foundation is often accused by our opponents of being “shills” for New Mexico’s oil and gas industry. Other times it is the Koch Brothers. It doesn’t matter. We are apparently never motivated by our support for free market principles.

Recently we were quoted in the New York Times in support of eliminating bans on plastic grocery bags. That quote was subsequently picked up by another journalist who made the odd point that the “boom” in plastic usage post COVID 19 could “save” the oil and gas industry.

According to the World Economic Forum chart below, 4% of worldwide oil and gas use is for plastic. It would take a pretty big boom in plastic usage to move the needle on overall oil and gas consumption.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation support the right of stores and consumers to choose the bag types that work for them not because of the oil and gas industry, but because it is pro-freedom and the right thing to do. That may surprise our enemies, but we are full of surprises.

On this week’s podcast, Paul has a brief discussion with New Mexico Rep. Larry Scott, a Republican from Hobbs. Scott is also in the oil and gas industry which saw prices go negative for the first time ever. What does it mean for the industry and NM’s budget?

Paul and Wally take over from there with a few additional points about oil prices…how low can they go? Furthermore, the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day is coming up and CO2 emissions are plummeting. This should make the environmentalists happy, right? No, they claim we need several years of even larger decreases in CO2 emissions to “really” address global warming.

RGF is working to get legislators to pledge not to raise taxes in wake of CoronaVirus: http://riograndefoundation.org/pledge

Bernalillo County Passes a budget with irresponsible 7% growth and new employee hiring. Albuquerque also faces a budget shortfall.

RGF’s recent “Eight Shutdown Decisions Gov. MLG Should Consider Reversing Right Now”generated a record response and website traffic. On the issue of reopening NM’s economy:

Calibers gun shop receives a “Cease and desist” order from Gov. MLG.

Superior Express Car Wash in Artesia was shut down by NMSP. There was no person to person contact. Automated wash. Why shut it down?
Police attend funeral covered on front page of ABQ Journal, no social distancing.

The Archdiocese of Las Cruces Bishop Peter Baldacchino became the first-known U.S. prelate to lift a diocesan ban on public Mass April 15, 2020, and told priests they may resume sacramental ministry if they follow state health mandates.

New Mexico’s GOP wins unanimous Court Case against mail-in elections. Gov. Lujan Grisham says on Twitter that “In-person voting poses a grave threat of heightened transmission of #COVID19. I remain confident NM’s primary election can be conducted almost entirely if not entirely through mail to ensure the safest possible exercise of New Mexicans’ right to vote.”

Her spokesman Tripp Stelnicki stated “You don’t have to ask the death cult their opinion or publish their quotes. False equivalence now is actually life or death. There is no “both sides” to this. There is one group preaching accelerated illness & death because they “love” “business” & if you can’t see through that?”

Finally, Rep. Javier Martínez who chairs the House Tax Committee in the New Mexico Legislature wrote, “Years of policies that uphold historically racist systems like..failures 2 invest land grant fund in youngest kids, failures 2 build water systems in communities w/out, failures 2 build an economy that works for ALL..are big part of reason why #Covid19 is hitting us the hardest.”

In this time when more New Mexicans than ever are getting a vast majority of their food at grocery stores (as opposed to restaurants), we uncovered a bit of a quirk in New Mexico’s tax code that is not even clarified in many documents put out by the Tax and Revenue Department.

As most New Mexicans are aware, groceries are generally not taxed. If you go to the grocery store and pick up your groceries curbside, that service is not taxed.

However, if the store is charging a fee for service delivery from a New Mexico grocery store to your home in New Mexico, the entire grocery order is now taxable at the full tax rate.

So, if you pick up $500 worth of groceries (not an unheard of sum given the challenges these days) from your local Wal Mart you pay no tax, but if you get the same groceries delivered in Albuquerque you pay nearly $40 in taxes.

Setting aside whether Bill Richardson’s decision to exempt groceries from GRT and raise the rate to pay for it was a good decision, this kind of complexity is definitely not good tax policy. Of course, the GRT itself is bad tax policy.

UPDATE: Thanks to our friends at Think New Mexico who uncovered this information about NM’s grocery tax guidelines following federal SNAP regulations. There is a pilot program under which states can exempt grocery delivery from taxation, but NM is not part of it yet.

The 50th Earth Day will be commemorated this Wednesday. 

Thanks to the CoronaVirus outbreak and the utter collapse in all modes of travel, experts are predicting steep drops in CO2 emissions (a drop of 5% or more this year depending on how prolonged the situation is). In fact, a few weeks ago we said that this pandemic has placed us in conditions akin to the Green New Deal.

Of course, while most Americans and many around the globe live in misery or at least great frustration and discomfort from being unable to travel and engage in a wide variety of everyday activities and demand for oil plummets, the environmentalists claim more is still needed.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation don’t take a firm position on the merits of climate change and how much of a crisis it actually is, but it would seem that environmentalists are simply not going to get people to live such constrained lives once this crisis has passed. Instead, if they genuinely wish to address CO2 emissions they should focus on transitioning electricity generation to nuclear power and (rather than building expensive and germ laden transit systems) should consider policies like tax credits that encourage remote work (thus reducing fuel consumed commuting).

With low oil prices and much of the economy frozen in place, tax revenues are plummeting. But, the last thing New Mexico business owners need is higher taxes as the economy attempts to recover.

In an effort to protect taxpayers in the aftermath of the global Coronavirus pandemic, the Rio Grande Foundation sent a letter to candidates for legislative offices requesting they sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. If you are a candidate for the New Mexico Legislature this November, please send an email to: info@riograndefoundation.org  simply saying “I sign the pledge” and letting us know exactly who you are. We will release the results shortly.

The letter was sent as follows:

Dear New Mexicans,

As a member of the New Mexico Legislature or a candidate to hold that office, one of your primary goals is to help New Mexicans get back to work. This downturn has been driven partially by the economic shutdown associated with the Corona Virus, but also in part by steep decline in oil prices.

Whatever the cause of the downturn, New Mexico government plainly spent beyond its means in recent years and has plenty of spending to cut before tax hikes are even considered. While the economy remains largely shut down and the start of our economic recovery remains unknown, we do know that New Mexico’s economy faces a steep challenge that will not be assisted by tax hikes on businesses and other hard-working New Mexicans.

I want you to pledge to the people of New Mexico not to raise your taxes as a result of the current economic downturn. In practical terms, this means no NET tax hikes through the end of the 2021 New Mexico legislative session.

The candidates were asked to respond to the request and pledge to not increase taxes as a result of the economic downturn.

On this week’s podcast interview Paul talks to Tom Clifford, PhD about New Mexico’s precarious budget situation.

While Tom has extensive political and budgetary knowledge including time spent working for the Joint Tax Committee in Washington, he is known to most for his recent work with Gov. Susana Martinez as Secretary of Finance and Administration, In this role, Tom acted as the Governor’s senior advisor for economic policy.

What would he tell Gov. Lujan Grisham right now? How bad is the budget situation and what should be done about it? Tom helps us find answers to these vexing but pressing problems.

On this week’s podcast, Paul and Wally discuss the Foundation’s newly-published list of Eight Shutdown Decisions the Gov. Should Reverse NOW.

President Trump just convinced several oil-producing nations to sign a deal to limit oil production. What does it mean? Can the federal government simply limit oil production?

So far the Gov. has not seriously started to discuss or address the economic issues with this crisis. She has created a task force, but still not taken any significant steps to address the economy.

Will there be a mail-in election for the June primary? New Mexico’s GOP has filed a lawsuit, but Paul and Wally discuss the pros and cons of this idea as well as its potential impact in a primary as opposed to a general election.

Finally, is “austerity” here again? Did we have “austerity” in the economic crisis of 2008-2009?

Feedspot.com names Tipping Point New Mexico one of the “Top 20 Public Policy Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020”

Tipping Point New Mexico is the official podcast of the Rio Grande Foundation that addresses public policy issues facing New Mexico, hosted by Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundation, and Wally Drangmeister.

Launched in 2018, the podcast features two episodes weekly and is nearing its 200th episode (we’re at 188 now). With special guests and topics ranging from the Railrunner to real estate and from optometry to printing, we do more on the podcast than just talk politics.

Some of our recent guests include Ken Starr (former independent counsel during the Whitewater controversy of the Clinton Administration), Grover Norquist (tax reduction advocate and President of Americans for Tax Reform), and John Boyd (New Jersey-based corporate site selector).

Feedspot.com has recently listed the Rio Grande Foundation’s public policy podcast on their list of the top 20 public policy podcasts to follow in 2020. Whoop!

Check out our latest episodes at tippingpointnm.com and join us live on Monday afternoon as we stream Tipping Point New Mexico: LIVE! on Facebook.

New Mexico faces a potential 35.7% budget decrease ($2 billion out of a $7.6 billion budget). The budget  plans to spend $342 million with $172 million of that coming from volatile gross receipts tax revenues which will undoubtedly be down even by the time the budget begins on July 1.

Local governments across our State will likely face big shortfalls from the economic shutdown relating to the virus alone, let alone the massive decline in oil prices.

But Bernalillo County just passed what can only be described as a shocking 7% budget increase.   Yes, as noted in the article, commissioners can redo the budget as financial conditions warrant, but why even pass a budget that is dead on arrival?

Instead of passing an unrealistic budget, Bernalillo County and other local governments should be eliminating wages passed in recent years and considering ways to eliminate fat and overspending in what will undoubtedly be a very difficult time.

In terms of her handling of the virus, the Rio Grande Foundation has been broadly supportive of Gov. Lujan Grisham and her efforts to address the ongoing crisis created by the Virus. We remain concerned about the economic situation New Mexico faces in the short, intermediate, and long terms, but understand (if we don’t always agree) with her handling of a nearly unprecedented situation.

That being said, some of the Gov.’s specific shutdown orders have questionable merits in terms of applying guidelines across various industries. We believe the following are unnecessary limiting to both personal freedom and needlessly preclude  innovation on the part of business owners or others involved in maintaining parts of a functioning economy without unnecessarily endangering public health. Several of these recommendations have the added benefit of generating precious tax dollars for state/local governments and keeping workers employed.

1. Reopen medical facilities to elective and outpatient medical procedures. Hospitals are reporting revenue declines of between 40 and 60%.  This doesn’t even include dentists, eye doctors, and other health providers who seen their businesses shuttered and the patients who have no access to care.
2. New Mexico’s 35 state parks have been shut down. Most outdoor activities involve social distancing at least beyond the 6 foot limit considered safe by medical professionals. Plus, with limited exercise and recreational options it would seem that some innovative solutions to get New Mexicans outside in a safe manner would be helpful.
   
3. Golf courses are a great form of social distancing. Limits could be placed on various aspects of the game (such as the use of carts and the presence of flags and rakes), but golf is another recreational opportunity that appears to be unnecessarily precluded in the current situation.
4. Nurseries should be free to open up provided they maintain social distancing guidelines. Planting flowers and gardening should be encouraged, not hindered during this difficult time.
   
5. Gun stores should be allowed to remain open. This is not the time for the Gov. to use a crisis to implement anti-gun efforts unilaterally. Gun shops should be allowed to open if they maintain social distancing guidelines.
   
6. Liquor stores have been shuttered while grocery stores remain open and are selling liquor. This makes no sense and has actually made shopping for groceries more difficult (and crowded) due to social distancing guidelines in place.
   
7. In advance of the Easter Holiday New Mexico churches were limited to no more than 5 people. If grocery stores and others can remain open while implementing social distancing requirements, there is no reason churches should face stricter limitations.
   
8. Restaurants that can comply with social distancing guidelines should be able to do so in a manner similar to grocery stores. They should also be allowed to sell and deliver liquor as part of their services during this crisis.

On this week’s interview podcast Paul talks to (normally) New Jersey-based corporate site selector John Boyd. Boyd has created a list of “10 Site Selection and Economic Development Takeaways from the COVID-19 Crisis.”

There is no question that New Mexico’s economy will face a steep recovery in the wake of this crisis and depressed oil prices. What trends and changes in the field of economic development does Boyd see coming out of this crisis and how will those benefit New Mexico? Listen to find out!

Our friends at Americans for Tax Reform have put together a list (currently at 200) of ways that the Trump Administration and various states are fighting the Coronavirus. You can find the list here.

Our own Gov. Lujan Grisham made the list with her executive order creating a streamlined process for Emergency Expedited Special Permits for relief supplies. The Rio Grande Foundation has published some recommendations here.

The Trump Administration has suspended a number of regulations related to fighting the virus including:

FDA allows state leeway in virus testing

“The FDA will allow states to take responsibility for tests developed and used by laboratories within their borders. The labs will not have to pursue Emergency Use Authorization from the agency, an emergency clearance that is normally required.” – STAT News (3/16/20)

FDA loosens regulations on distribution of newly developed tests    

“Under certain circumstances, the agency will not object to any manufacturers that distribute newly developed tests before the FDA grants emergency clearance, and a similar stance will be taken toward labs that use these new tests.” – STAT News (3/16/20)

EPA easing enforcement of environmental legal obligations

“The EPA will exercise the enforcement discretion specified below for noncompliance covered by this temporary policy and resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic…

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

April 2, 2020

Governor Lujan Grisham,

New Mexico faces an unprecedented crisis on multiple fronts. With the rapid spread of the outbreak, the state-wide call for social distancing is proper. These life-saving measures are necessary and we appreciate your leadership. We value life and must work diligently to preserve it. However, these mitigation efforts will undoubtedly result in an economic crisis. Combining that with the collapse in crude oil prices which fund 40% of New Mexico’s economy and our State faces unprecedented economic and budget challenges for the foreseeable future.

One thing is definite: New Mexico remains united in defeating coronavirus. I have never witnessed a coming together of the entirety of the state in the way that I’ve seen in the last three weeks. But some of our greatest challenges lie ahead.

We must also unite in defeating the economic scourge that will plague us long after the coronavirus threat has been eliminated. We want you to know that the entire team at Rio Grande Foundation stands ready and willing to help our state on the road to recovery.

At the Rio Grande Foundation, our economic policy experts have the experience to help New Mexico overcome this challenge and emerge stronger than ever before. We are capable, we are ready, and we are willing. Already we have made some detailed suggestions at our blog site: www.errorsofenchantment.com. Consider sending your team there for details but you and your staff can also reach us directly at 505-264-6090.

Please, let us help develop solutions now so that we are prepared to act as soon as we are free to do so. We are together, New Mexico.

Sincerely,

Paul Gessing
President

On this week’s discussion podcast, Paul and Wally discuss the fact that New Mexico is estimated to be facing a $2 billion deficit according to Sen. Finance Committee Chair John Arthur Smith. How will that gap be filled and what additional concerns should New Mexicans have about this situation?

Wally and Paul agree that raising taxes would be a really bad idea. Data from the Mercatus Center done in 2018 states that “if spending commitments demand more revenues, are states in a good position to increase taxes without harming the economy? (New Mexico ranks 50th in this area.)

Speaking of taxes, candidates for the Legislature and federal office in New Mexico can take the pledge not to raise taxes here: https://www.atr.org/take-the-pledge.

Speaking of the Legislature, a group misleadingly calling themselves, “No Corporate Democrats” is attempting to make some waves in legislative races. The groups attempting to defeat these legislators are definitely of the left, but they aren’t anti-corporate. In fact, one of their main areas of focus is abortion which really isn’t an issue of corporate concern.

NM’s budget/K-12 system will be even more vulnerable to budgetary downturns than other states

The Journal editorializes in support of RGF efforts to at least temporarily repeal city/county plastic ordinances. Bernalillo County suspends ban on single-use bags for 60 days and Santa Fe does the same. Both say they are concerned about health issues.

The Americans for Tax Reform has a website where they have collected no fewer than 171 Regulations Waived to Help Fight COVID-19

https://www.atr.org/rules

Paul urges Gov. Lujan Grisham to check out the site and adopt some of the ideas.

As has been widely reported, including on this podcast, New Mexico faces a serious budget challenge due in part to falling oil prices, but also due to the ongoing virus and Gov. Lujan Grisham’s response to it which has virtually shut down New Mexico’s economy (she is hardly alone in taking such drastic steps).

Anyway, with fat budgets in the past two years and growth above 20% over that time period, the usual suspects from NM Voices for Children are making an oblique push for tax increases through tweets like the one below.  What is more troubling is that the Chair of the House Tax Committee Javier Martinez appears to share the Voices view of things.

Also troubling is that when it comes to the left’s education and health care priorities of the past decade (really they’re referring to the Martinez Administration) there was hardly “austerity.” Below the tweet you can see how early childhood spending rose during the Martinez Administration.

As this article (linked directly to the Voices website) Martinez also embraced Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare and despite a generous federal match given by the feds was still forced to come up with extra money from the State budget.

Ultimately, Voices is NOT interested in truthfully discussing the alleged “austerity” of the past. They simply want to continue the big-spending ways of the very recent past. If that means Rep. Javier Martinez will have to push some major tax hikes, so be it.

Our country is facing an unprecedented crisis. We are fighting an invisible enemy that has challenged us deeply, but has also brought out the best in people as we come together in community. Indeed, the best of America has been showcased over the last several weeks as we fight through this.

The Territory of New Mexico was first organized as an incorporated territory of the United States that existed from 1850 until 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of New Mexico, making it the longest-lived organized incorporated territory of the United States, lasting approximately 62 years.

For over 108 years now, New Mexico has been a part of the American community, united by the common values we share. On January 6th in 1912, New Mexico was admitted to the union of the United States as the 47th state, setting it on a historic path.

In so doing, we recognized our belief in a fundamental set of principles founded on liberty, freedom, and personal responsibility. We joined a society governed by the Constitution, a document that empowered the people instead of a king and wrote into law an unprecedented form of republican governance.

We are proud to announce the creation of the 1912 Society, an association aimed at honoring the time-tested principles that we share, which we can trace back to the date when New Mexicans became Americans. This membership society is brought together to honor and connect those donors who support the work of the Rio Grande Foundation at a certain annual level.

Through this exclusive giving club, members will get special updates from the president, an auto decal to showcase their membership, and advanced notice and reserved seating for events.

Click here to join the new 1912 Society

Thank you to the many individuals who have continued to give their generous support to our organization. It is only through your investment that we’re able to continue our work and in so doing fight for liberty, opportunity, and prosperity in the Land of Enchantment through public policy advocacy, thought leadership, and litigation.

Recently, the Rio Grande Foundation successfully pushed Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller to put the City’s plastic bag ban on hold for 30 days. Keller claims that he will make the ban even more stringent (eliminating thicker, reusable bags) and that the removal of the  ban had “nothing” to do with keeping people safe from viruses and other health concerns with unclean bags. 

Taking a somewhat different tack, was Bernalillo County  which has an even stricter ban on plastics than does the City. According to a recent press release Bernalillo County Manager Julie Morgas Baca has issued an order suspending the single-use plastic bag ban for 60-days. Notably, unlike the City, the County cited public safety as a reason for suspending the ban.

“In the interest of safety during the coronavirus Covid-19 shutdown, I’ve lifted the ban so these single-use bags can be put to use,” says Bernalillo County Manager Julie Morgas Baca.

Chalk another one up for the Rio Grande Foundation which was also cited for its work on the issue in a recent Albuquerque Journal editorial.

Update: The City of Santa Fe has put its plastic bag ban on hold for now. Mayor Alan Webber. Unlike Albuquerque Mayor Keller, Webber cited health concerns saying, “If we don’t limit customer and employee interactions, and customer-to-customer interactions, they risk being high transference sites.” Webber’s order also asks stores to stop allowing customers to bring in reusable bags.

The decline in oil and gas revenues and New Mexico’s reliance on them are well-documented. But, as this informative webinar “What will the financial turmoil mean for public education” points out, New Mexico faces some additional challenges relating to the crisis.

1. The decision under Gov. Richardson to exempt groceries from taxation (while raising taxes on everything else) is going to have negative impacts on revenue, especially at the local level. After all, groceries are some of the few items being sold in smaller, rural communities nowadays;
2. Sales (or in NM’s case) GRT is more volatile than other taxes. NM is 7th-most reliant on the GRT among all US states;
3. NM’s K-12 system is funded statewide to an extent unseen in any other state besides Vermont or Hawaii.  In most states K-12 systems rely on more stable property tax revenues. In New Mexico oil and gas and GRT play larger roles (oil and gas pay GRT as well).All of this means that Gov. Lujan Grisham needs to be extremely proactive in addressing the budgetary impacts of the current economic situation.

I sat down with Jim Williams of ABQ Connect for an interview this week. These are the topics we cover in today’s interview with links to additional information:

1. The budget situation in New Mexico with oil below $22 a barrel – Errors of Enchantment Budget
2. Ideas for dealing with the immediate COVID-19 Crisis – Errors of Enchantment Economic Ideas
3. Parents need to assert themselves in educating their children with schools shut down – Errors of Enchantment Education
4. The City of Albuquerque has placed the ban on plastic bags on hold – Errors of Enchantment Bags

The Rio Grande Foundation website is an amazing tool to use for information about local and state government politics!