ALBUQUERQUE — Yesterday on the floor of the US Senate, New Mexico’s senators and several of their colleagues attacked the free speech rights of free market and conservative organizations. Heinrich, Udall, and their Senate colleagues believe that the “science is settled” on climate change and are attempting to intimidate, shut down, and ultimately criminalize those making arguments against using the full force of government to solve the supposed “climate crisis.”

Said Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing of the Senators’ efforts, “We at the Rio Grande Foundation (and many of the organizations attacked by the Senators) simply oppose massive government programs to address the supposed threat of ‘climate change.’ We have repeatedly pointed out that US carbon emissions have dropped in recent years due to market forces such as the boom in fracking and natural gas production. Command-and-control government solutions are unnecessary especially when the market is working.”

Notably, the free market Cato Institute (the Rio Grande Foundation has hosted Cato’s climate expert Pat Michaels) accepts the so-called “consensus” on global warming. A statement on Cato’s website reads, in part:

Global warming is indeed real, and human activity has been a contributor since 1975. But global warming is also a very complicated and difficult issue that can provoke very unwise policy in response to political pressure.

“Nonetheless,” noted Gessing, “The Cato Institute was among the organizations specifically criticized by the left-wing group of anti-speech US senators. For Heinrich, Udall, and their colleagues it’s not about the science; it’s about imposing a political agenda of massively-expanded government regulation and increased taxes”

In concluding, Gessing noted, “Sens. Udall and Heinrich represent one of America’s most energy-dependent and energy-rich states. One-third of New Mexico’s budget is directly supported by oil and gas while The Land of Enchantment is also a leading producer of coal and has in the past been a leading source of uranium. Carbon-free nuclear is unfortunately not among the ‘solutions’ under consideration by the mainstream climate-change lobby. They’d rather attack their opponents’ free speech rights instead.”

With New Mexico’s media continuing to slavishly repeat spin about film and television production in the Land of Enchantment, the Associated Press has issued an instructive story on how studios play states for suckers:

Louisiana’s once-booming film industry — dubbed “Hollywood South” — was off by as much as 90 percent this past year, according to the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association. The drop is all attributed to the state’s decision to wind down its generous incentives last July, scaring off movie makers.

Louisiana has handed a whopping $1.4 billion to productions — revenue it wishes it still had, given the state’s budget woes.

Hollywood’s money men aren’t stupid. Their approach to what California calls “runaway productions” is simple: Grab the cash for as long as you can, and hit the road when there’s a better offer. There is zero interest in building sustainable entertainment workforces and infrastructure — in New Mexico, or anywhere else. Studios exist to make profits, and states’ economic-development dreams are irrelevant. It’s all about the bottom line.

But rest assured, New Mexico will stick with its subsidization strategy. Probably no public policy in the Land of Enchantment enjoys more bipartisan support. And for the record, in recent years, job growth in New Mexico’s film-and-television “industry” has been nonexistent. In 2015, there were fewer employees than in 2012:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Rio Grande Foundation has a weekly radio show “Tipping Point New Mexico” on “The Rock of Talk” 1600 KIVA. You can listen to last week’s episode by clicking below:

Now, if you can’t tune in live, you can listen to archived editions of “Tipping Point” at your computer or on the new cell phone app developed at the “Rock of Talk.” That means, wherever you are, if you have your phone, you can listen to both new and archived editions of “Tipping Point New Mexico.”

This is another great way for anyone who wants to hear our great interviews and information about the state of New Mexico’s economy and its political situation to do so. I’ve downloaded the app, you and your friends should too!

ALBUQUERQUE — Today, the Rio Grande Foundation released a new study authored by its president Paul Gessing based on research provided by energy expert Dr. Timothy Considine of the University of Wyoming.

The study which analyzed the impact of New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) finds that the law will decrease New Mexico’s economic growth by $444 million and cost the economy 3,500 jobs by 2020.

The study, “New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard: An Evaluation of its Impact on the State Economy,” details the impact of RPS on electricity prices, job creation, and economic output through 2040. The study serves as a reminder that despite modest benefits of RPS, state lawmakers cannot ignore the economic implications for their constituents.

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) exist in 29 states and the District of Columbia, requiring that a percentage of electricity be generated by wind, solar, and other forms of renewable energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The study accounts for not only the costs of the law but also the benefits. This year, for example, Dr. Considine finds that New Mexico’s RPS reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4 million tons, infuses $178 million into the state economy, and is responsible for 2,500 new jobs. Those benefits, however, are dramatically-outweighed by its costs.

Additional findings for the Land of Enchantment:

• By 2020, RPS policies will increase New Mexico electricity costs by almost $206 million annually.
• The study finds that electricity prices will jump by 7 percent that year alone.

Said Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing.“New Mexico’s economy faces serious challenges. While so-called ‘renewables’ may be part of the solution, mandating them under state law does much more harm than good.”

To view Gessing’s brief, click Here. To read Considine’s entire study,  click HERE. To schedule an interview, contact Rio Grande Foundation at 505-264-6090 or info@riograndefoundation.org.

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Date:
July 28, 2016

Address:
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Click here to register.

Patricia “Patty” French, the board chair of the Public Employees Retirement Association, had an … interesting piece in New Mexico Political Report this week. Thanks to reforms adopted in 2013, the official beamed, PERA is “projected to meet our goal of being 100% funded by 2043.”

Feeling better about the Land of Enchantment’s long-term fiscal solvency now? Probably not. But there’s reason for more worry. As the Pew Charitable Trusts recently documented, New Mexico’s total unfunded liabilities — pensions and healthcare for government workers, as well as bonded debt — are quite disturbing. When ranked according to share of state personal income, New Mexico is sixth from the bottom:

Give French her due. There’s no question that 2013’s pension-reform reform package was a decent first step. Among other things, it reduced cost-of-living (COLA) adjustments from 3 percent to 2 percent for most beneficiaries, delayed COLA eligibility, increased employee contributions, and lengthened the vesting period.

But the ultimate answer to New Mexico’s mammoth pension liability remains a full transfer of all new employees to a defined-contribution system. A flexible, modern approach to retirement income would be good for workers and taxpayers alike. Rest assured, recognizing the power of state-employee unions, legislators’ desire to shift to a 401(k) system is low.

Whatever one’s views on the right to bear arms, gun policy is set at the state and national levels. That fact didn’t bother the Las Cruces City Council earlier this week. Four councilors, plus the mayor, voted to approve a resolution calling “on the New Mexico Legislature to enact legislation which requires comprehensive background checks for all firearm sales and which strengthens the criminal background check system for firearms in New Mexico.”

The vote isn’t likely to influence anyone in Santa Fe, but it did offer another example of local-government officials wandering into areas where they don’t belong.

“You run the police department, you run the fire department, you fix the roads, you do a lot of good things, but I don’t think national gun policy is one of them that you should be doing,” said Brad Cates, a former Reagan administration official and candidate for Doña Ana County district attorney.

It’s not like councilors don’t have more important concerns on their plate. Unemployment in the metro region is 6.7 percent, higher than it is in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and higher than the national average. As the Southern New Mexico Business Coalition’s Don Biad recently lamented: “When you combine — just to name a few issues — the bureaucratic construction permitting processes, local impact fees for developers, minimum wage increase legislation, increased county taxes and the comprehensive development plan that violates private property rights currently working its way through the County Commission, there is no reason to think businesses will want to locate to southern New Mexico. Or even stay for that matter.”

You may have read reports from a few months back stating that the federal Food and Drug Administration had “killed” vaping through the imposition of new regulations. Here’s one article on the subject. It’s true, if their plans are allowed to move forward, an un-elected group of bureaucrats will be placing unnecessary regulations on an industry that will likely result in more people smoking and the dramatic reduction in the far-healthier alternative known as “vaping” or e-cigarettes.

The “good” news (such as it is) is that Congress can push back against the “anti-vaping” crusaders at the FDA. change the 2007 predicate date, which would permit products currently being used by consumers to quit smoking to continue to be sold.

Reps. Michelle Lujan-Grisham and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan are two Members or Congress need convincing. While the mechanism is complicated, a simple call to your respective Representative urging them to “support the Cole language on vaping in H.R. 2058” would be adequate. Rep. Lujan-Grisham can be reached at: (202) 225-6316. Rep. Lujan can be reached at: (202)-225-6190.

Don’t believe me that vaping is healthier than cigarettes? As Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids put it, “Responsibly marketed and properly regulated, e-cigarettes could benefit public health if they help significantly reduce the number of people who smoke conventional cigarettes and become sick and die as a result.” He further argued that if properly regulated, “I don’t think there is any doubt that there would be a reduction in harm,” from smokers who switched to e-cigarettes.

According to new data from the State, New Mexico is seeing tremendous growth in its tourism numbers. I’m glad to hear it although tourism alone is not enough to support New Mexico’s overall economy. We’re still not in the top-10 among US states according to CNBC, but hey, we’ll take good news where we can get it these days.

My family and I were going to have a New Mexico “stay-cation” over the recent Independence Day holiday. We had plans to head to Carlsbad Caverns with the kids to tour them and see the evening bat “show.” Unfortunately, as was documented late last year on this blog, the elevator at Carlsbad Caverns has been out of service. Recent news reports had indicated it was fixed, but a closer reading of these articles followed up by a call down to the Caverns led to my finding out that the working elevator is the freight elevator with half the capacity of the usual elevator which remains out of service.

In order to confirm this, I called down to the Caverns and, according to the ranger I talked to, the expected wait time for the elevator out of the caverns during what is obviously a very busy Independence Day weekend, was expected to be 2-3 hours. With three small children, that was a no-go, so my wife and I canceled Carlsbad and planned a last-second trip to Sedona, AZ (taking our tourism dollars with us).

Could you imagine a for-profit business letting the elevator go absent repairs for months on end? Carlsbad isn’t alone. The National Parks have a $11.9 billion maintenance backlog. Perhaps it is time to consider leveraging the private sector to manage these and other “crown jewels?”

Too bad President Obama didn’t tour the Caverns on a busy Holiday weekend with the rest of us “working stiffs,” perhaps he would have seen that federal management is not getting the job done….

The Foundation is tracking announcements of expansions, relocations, and greenfield investments published on Area Development‘s website. Founded in 1965, the publication “is considered the leading executive magazine covering corporate site selection and relocation. … Area Development is published quarterly and has 60,000 mailed copies.” In an explanation to the Foundation, its editor wrote that items for Area Development‘s announcements listing are “culled from RSS feeds and press releases that are emailed to us from various sources, including economic development organizations, PR agencies, businesses, etc. We usually highlight ones that represent large numbers of new jobs and/or investment in industrial projects.”

In June, of 10,678 projected jobs, 6,139 — 57.5 percent — were slated for right-to-work (RTW) states:

Last month was, far and away, the best performance by non-RTW states since the Foundation began its tracking in January 2015.

What accounts for the “impressive” performance of compulsory-unionism states? A harmonic convergence of huge projects — including Amazon’s pick of Illinois for two fulfillment centers (1,000 jobs total), Novavax’s choice of Maryland for “research, development, and clinical trial support operations” (850 jobs), and Shell’s announcement of an ethylene cracker near Pittsburgh (600 jobs.)

It was such a “strong” month for compulsory-unionism states, even New Mexico landed two investments. Mako Medical Laboratories plans to establish operations in Albuquerque, and create 100 jobs, and Wildflower International announced the addition of 81 positions in Santa Fe.

Still, in the three sub-metrics we scrutinize, RTW remained dominant.

Sixteen domestic companies based in non-RTW states announced investments in RTW states. Just four announcements went the other way.

RTW prevailed in foreign direct investment, too. Fifteen are headed to RTW states, with five to occur in non-RTW states.

Two relocations are to cross the barrier from non-RTW to RTW, with none headed from RTW to non-RTW.

Marquee RTW investments included GE Digital’s choice of Atlanta for its “first global Digital Operations Center” (250 jobs), China Jushi’s selection of South Carolina for its “first fiberglass manufacturing operation in the U.S.” (400 jobs), and Dexcom’s announcement of “a new state of the art manufacturing facility” in Arizona (500 jobs).

Do June’s data mean a sustainable turnaround for non-RTW states? If history is any guide, the chances are slim. Watch this space!

Methodological specifics:

* All job estimates — “up to,” “as many as,” “about” — were taken at face value, for RTW and non-RTW states alike.

* If an announcement did not make an employment projection, efforts were made to obtain an estimate from newspaper articles and/or press releases from additional sources.

* If no job figure could be found anywhere, the project was not counted, whether it was a RTW or non-RTW state.

* Intrastate relocations were not counted, interstate relocations were.

Over the holiday weekend, 100 volunteers patrolled the bosque in Corrales, checking for fires. It’s a program that runs all summer, and has been in place since 2010. As a town firefighter told KRQE, “We can’t be everywhere at once. It’s just that increased presence, there’s only so many of us.”

Volunteerism does a lot to preserve the bosque throughout the region. Last year, the Metro Rotary Club collected more than 50 bags of trash from a one-acre site near the I-40 overpass.

State parks also benefit from folks contributing their time. Earlier this month, the Albuquerque Journal reported that hundreds of volunteers “support … paid park rangers, playing a critical role in assisting campers, performing routine maintenance, staffing visitor centers and acting as educators.”

With tax revenue stagnant and costs always rising, government at every level in the Land of Enchantment should look for more ways to involve the public in “public” services.

New Mexico’s Legislature had previously enacted a law that allowed employers with more than three employees to opt out of coverage for farm and ranch laborers but not other agricultural workers. The liberal-dominated New Mexico Supreme Court — Justice Judy Nakamura being the sole exception — decided that instead of the duly-elected Legislature being called upon to change the law, they should simply ignore the law on the grounds of “equal protection.”

While some news reports hailed the decision as “a victory for thousands of farm and ranch laborers” which is typical for the shallow understanding of most media outlets, the reality is that New Mexico’s green chile industry (for example) is facing major challenges and this decision will not help producers compete with imports.

Of course, it is worth noting that the Court has also undermined the rule of law by usurping legislative prerogatives by simply making up the law to fit their preferred ends. Lastly, businesses will (again and beyond agriculture) look to avoid New Mexico because our courts cannot be trusted. The rule of law is a basic element of economic freedom. Undermining it has caused America’s standing as a beacon of freedom to drop in recent years and it is an under-reported element of economic factors at the state level as well.

Shockingly (OK, not really), New Mexico’s courts perform rather poorly (ranked 45th by the US Chamber of Commerce) when compared to those in other states. It is also worth noting that workers in these fields chose to do so voluntarily. Due to this ruling, there will likely be a significant reduction in those employment opportunities. So, yet again, it may look like “victory,” but it really means fewer workers involved in New Mexico agriculture. Look for more automation and fewer farmers.

Errors of Enchantment hopes to see readers tomorrow on Central Avenue in the Duke City, for the classic-car cruise to stop Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART).

Many aspects of ART are maddening and frustrating, but one may be fiercest of all: the fact that government, at all levels, is working to preserve the history of Route 66.

At a presentation in Rio Rancho last week, the National Park Service’s Kaisa Barthuli described the many ways Washington has sought to keep the memory of the Mother Road alive. In 1990, the Route 66 Study Act authorized “a study on methods to commemorate the nationally significant highway.” Nine years later, the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Act charged the Department of the Interior with facilitating “the development of guidelines and a program of technical assistance and grants that will set priorities for the preservation of the Route 66 corridor.” In the last decade and a half, federal taxpayers have “contributed” millions of dollars to match private giving aimed at protecting historical buildings and structures along highway. Local and state governments play roles, too — the City of Albuquerque has a “Route 66 Action Plan,” which explores “several revitalization concepts aimed at improving the atmosphere, infrastructure, and economic opportunities within the 15 miles along Central Avenue.”

Both lawsuits filed against ART have, wisely, highlighted the impact the boondoggle-in-the-making will have on Route 66’s heritage.

So if you’re attending the classic-car cruise, have a blast. But remember that as a taxpayer, you’re providing funds to both support and threaten Route 66 history.

Tomorrow is the start of a new fiscal year for local governments and the state, but July 1st also brings several changes to municipal and county gross receipts taxes.

The GRT increase with the greatest impact can be found in Albuquerque. Last year, voters approved a “revenue enhancement” for infrastructure improvement at the Rio Grande Zoo and BioPark. Or, at least that was the cover story. In May, KRQE’s Chis McKee revealed that while the city “promised hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction,” actually, “a big chunk of the new … tax money won’t be used to build anything, but will actually be used to pay for some pricey new employees.”

Between 2000 and 2016, Albuquerque’s GRT rate rose from 5.8125 percent to 7.3125 percent — an astounding increase of 25.8 percent:

In addition to Albuquerque’s 1.7 percent hike, rates will rise by 4.8 percent in Vaughn and 7.3 percent in Eunice.

In Luna County, though, there’s good news — rates will fall. In the unincorporated area, the GRT will decline by 1.8 percent. In Columbus and Deming, the cuts will be 1.6 percent.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is no fan of free trade. We disagree with him on that and believe that the Trans Pacific Partnership which awaits Congressional action would be good for New Mexico’s hard-hit natural gas producers.

However, Trump recently stated that he’d end NAFTA — the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada — which has been in place for two decades now (NAFTA went into effect in 1994). Ending NAFTA could do great harm to New Mexico’s economy. While trade would still be done, NAFTA greatly contributed to expanded trade between the two nations, including exports to Mexico from New Mexico as seen below.

While a simple chart illustrates overall growth, the reality is that NAFTA has also helped increase the number of New Mexicans working in jobs supported by trade. The following chart is from the Business Roundtable. According to data from that organization, 80% more New Mexicans are now employed in international trade than they were prior to NAFTA.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation consistently work to increase the size of New Mexico’s private sector and decrease its reliance on government at all levels. Jobs created in New Mexico by free trade are good-paying jobs. The Santa Teresa border community is one of the few areas in our state that is performing well. While New Mexico is somewhat late to the party, this boom is largely the result of cross-border trade and NAFTA.

Free trade is at the heart of the free market economy. Abandonment of NAFTA would be a serious problem for New Mexico’s economy.

Kudos to Chapter 179 of the Experimental Aviation Association. The organization, whose members are “eager to share their passion for aviation,” is running a weeklong program for high-school students at Double Eagle II Airport.

As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, participants have “an opportunity to talk to pilots, and to learn about aerodynamics, aircraft design and navigation.” The students also attend “a workshop on riveting” and “talks on maintenance and avionics, communications and radio practice.”

Aviation careers appear to have a bright future. The Regional Airline Association avers that “the problem of pilot supply is endemic throughout the regional airline industry.” The New York Times recently wrote that a “dearth of qualified pilots is disrupting, reducing and even eliminating flights.” (Aviation economist and consultant Dan Akins told the paper: “After 35 years analyzing and following this industry, I’ve never seen anything like it — and it’s only going to get worse.”) Last summer, a Boeing forecast predicted the need for “609,000 new aircraft maintenance technicians over the next 20 years to meet rising demand.”

While the EAA’s program is not formally a manifestation of school choice, it is an example of how individuals and entities outside the government-school monopoly can inspire and inform — and direct teens toward marketable skills in an expanding industry.

Ashley Leach, an economist with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, has a useful — if incomplete — article in the latest edition of the bureaucracy’s Labor Market Review.

In 2015, Leach writes, among the states, only Wyoming and Alaska had greater shares of their workforces in “public service.” (See above.) But there’s a mighty large caveat worth noting. Employees at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories are classified as “private,” and thus, thousands of workers who are truly on the payroll of the federal government weren’t counted.

In 2013, the Mercatus Center included federal contractors in its analysis of the real private sector in the 50 states. It found an all-in public-sector share 31.9 percent for New Mexico — making our workforce the most taxpayer-dependent in the nation.

Looking at local and state employment, Leach finds that New Mexico ranks “fifth in the nation” for the share of total jobs. Both categories hit their absolute peaks in 2009. Since then, local employment has fallen by just 3.4 percent. State employment declined by a mere 5.7 percent. Not much right-sizing there.

Finally, in seven counties — Mora, De Baca, Socorro, Hidalgo, Catron, Rio Arriba, and Harding — government employment accounts for more than 40 percent of all jobs. In contrast, New Mexico’s oil country — Lea and Eddy Counties — has the lowest share of total government employment.

Critics of Bernalillo County’s latest GRT hike certainly felt vindicated by Dan McKay’s article Saturday in the Albuquerque Journal.

Commissioners approved the tax increase, a portion of which is earmarked for behavioral-health programs, in February 2015. At the time, Wayne Johnson, who represents District 5, called the measure “premature.” His colleague Lonnie Talbert, who represents District 4, agreed, noting that there was “no plan” for how the revenue “would be spent, managed and leveraged with other government and private resources.”

Now, well over a year later, McKay reported that “city and county leaders are still working together to coordinate the most effective use of the money,” and specifics “haven’t been identified.”

That’s a shame. New Mexico has some of the most severe substance-abuse and mental-health problems in the country. The need is real, and there indeed is a role for government to play in the issue. But blindly passing a tax hike and hoping that the revenue raised will, somehow, do some good? It’s lousy policy. Kudos to the commissioners who stood against it.

The Rio Grande Foundation is participating in the planning of a unique and exciting event this Saturday to bring attention to the many problems with the City of Albuquerque’s planned “Albuquerque Rapid Transit” system. A transportation expert just analyzed the proposed project and found that it would make traffic along Central worse, not better.

(Albuquerque) Historical Route 66 is arguably the most famous road in the world. Unfortunately, “The Mother Road” is under attack from politicians in Albuquerque who are trying to jam through a new bus that would occupy the center two lanes of Albuquerque’s most famous road for nearly its entire length through town.

• The project, which is planned to cost $69 million in federal funds and tens of millions of dollars in local taxes and utility rate increases, has angered directly affected businesses and City residents from all walks of life and across the political spectrum.
• To voice their concerns, a coalition of area businesses and local car clubs has organized a classic car rally and “cruise” to be held on Saturday, July 2^nd, 2016.
• The starting point is Western View Diner and Steakhouse at 6411 Central Avenue, NW. Participants will drive along Route 66 to the El Mercado Shopping Center at 201 San Pedro, SE. Participants will drive Historical Route 66 through Albuquerque with signs expressing their opposition to the project. Registration at Western View Diner will last from 8:30am to 9:30am.

Joyce, a vintage car enthusiast and car club member says, “The City of Albuquerque has an obligation to preserve this very important part of our history. Route 66 has played a major role in the economic growth and cultural development of Albuquerque. It still brings tourists from all over the world to experience this iconic road, which carried refugees from the Dust Bowl, military troops and equipment during World War II and the Korean War. Albuquerque residents also travel the road regularly for business and for pleasure; we are proud of our route.”

Larry Rainosek, owner of another Albuquerque landmark, The Frontier Restaurant, voiced the concerns of small businesses along the proposed construction site saying, “This bus will choke small businesses along Historic Route 66 by making parking more scarce, traffic worse, and making it far more difficult to get around by reserving two lanes for bus traffic and eliminating more than 200 left turns.”

Participants are encouraged to sign up to participate at the Facebook page that has been set up for the event [Save Central ABQ], or send an email to rt66cars@gmail.com to let them know you’ll be participating and to receive additional updates and information, and to give Save Central ABQ a call at: (505) 261-7089.

Media are encouraged to call: (505) 261-7089 for more information.

Advance warning: This might be the most depressing post in the history of Errors of Enchantment.

The Wall Street Journal, examining data from a report by IHS Global Insight prepared for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, documented annual wage growth, adjusted for inflation, between 2009 and 2015 for America’s cities.

Just 30 communities — 10 percent of the total — saw declines over the period. Three of New Mexico’s four metro regions were among the 30. Annual real wage growth fell by 0.4 percent in both Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Albuquerque dropped by 0.2 percent.

Happily, the figure for Farmington was a positive 0.4 percent — although the gain has surely been reversed recently, with northwest New Mexico facing devastating layoffs.

The Great Recession was brutal to the Land of Enchantment, and we’ve got a long way to go before we climb our way back to zero. A radical overhaul of economic-development policy is required, pronto.

The Rio Grande Foundation truly believes in its mission of being a state think tank. After all, we have so many problems here in the Land of Enchantment that need solving, we don’t need to head off to Washington or around the world with everything that needs to be done here.

However, I believe strongly that 2016 is a “tipping point.” That’s why we are calling our radio show on “The Rock of Talk” by that name. The show airs every Saturday from noon to 1pm on AM 1600 and 95.9FM.

Nonetheless, Last night, voters in Great Britian chose to declare their independence from an overweening centralized government in Brussels. They voted to restore their sovereignty and independence. Hopefully, Britain retains its free trade-oriented philosophy and that it maintains close relationships with both Europe and the United States and that those ties are reciprocated and expanded upon. The last thing anyone needs is a trade-war or resentment to lead to bad policies.

What does this mean for New Mexico? It means that we too need to “declare our independence.” Not from the United States politically, but economically by developing our own private sector economy and becoming less reliant on Washington. Britain could choose to leave the EU in part because of its strong economy. New Mexico is more like Greece. We need to change that and, if that happens, I believe 2016 is going to be a “tipping point” for us as well.

If all of this “Brexit” talk has you befuddled, there is a great movie called “Brexit the Movie” which explains why many Brits wanted to leave the EU.

The price of oil impacts New Mexico’s economy in a big way. Oil prices that once hovered at $110 per barrel dropped as low as $27 earlier this year, and now hover around $50. That’s lower than we’ve grown accustomed to, but it is hardly a crisis – and certainly doesn’t appear to be an early-1980s-style bust.

Lower prices have hurt New Mexico producers, but consumers nationwide have benefited from lower prices at the pump.

Unfortunately, at a time of increased skepticism of free trade, a small group of oil and gas producers here in New Mexico is calling for government-enforced limits on oil imports. A forum calling for quotas was held on June 14 in Farmington at the San Juan College School of Energy. Several leaders in the industry, including Daniel Fine, associate director of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, are supportive.

But restricting oil imports is a very dangerous proposal for many reasons, both economic and political.

It is worth noting that the cause of falling oil and gas prices is the result of supply and demand forces. The boom in fracking led to massive growth in domestic production, which ultimately drove prices down. However, fracking is only profitable at $65-$70 a barrel, so prices lower than that are a challenge for many New Mexico producers. That’s the free market at work.

Despite hostility toward trade from the likes of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, the free exchange of goods and services benefits us all. This is true whether you are “trading” a few dollars for a latte at your corner coffee shop or whether oil is being imported (or exported) to where it can be sold for the most money.

We’ve just been through this battle, on the issue of the federal government’s crude-export ban, which Congress repealed earlier this year. The policy was instituted in the 1970s in the wake of government-induced shortages caused by price controls. Back then, elected officials simply couldn’t foresee a future in which the U.S. had ample enough supplies to export crude oil.

Quotas today would be a similarly shortsighted policy. An industry that so often faces government regulation – and opposition to its very existence – is setting itself up for future problems by running to the political class for protection from market forces.

In a Clinton presidency, there is little chance of quotas. Trump, who is unfamiliar with the oil-and-gas industry and is skeptical of free trade, might be sympathetic. He might also target oil-producing Middle Eastern countries and Mexico. But a system of quotas will do so at the expense of the American economy and some of our greatest allies.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. gets 40 percent of our imported oil from Canada. Politically troubled Venezuela is responsible for another 9 percent, and just 16 percent of imported oil comes from the entire Persian Gulf including Saudi Arabia. Another 8 percent comes from Mexico.

Canada is our largest trading partner and Mexico is 3^rd (China is 2^nd). Trade goes both ways. If the federal government imposes tariffs or quotas on imports, the impacted country is sure to do the same. This will hurt American exporters directly. But, should the quotas be “successful” in raising the price of oil, it will hurt domestic consumers at the pump as well. The industries that consume oil and natural gas (think trucking and airlines, for starters) will also suffer, and their customers will face higher costs.

The oil patch is experiencing a painful adjustment. But government protectionism is not the solution. Such policies will harm the economy and our ability to lead on global trade issues. The downturn in oil and gas is just another reason for New Mexico’s leaders to reform the state’s long-struggling economy. Turning, yet again, to Washington is not the solution.

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

The annual hand-wringing over the release of “Kids Count” has begun.

Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation issues what it calls “the premier source for data on child and family well-being in the United States.” And, as usual, New Mexico ranked dismally — 49^th, just ahead of Mississippi.

Breaking it down by category, the Land of Enchantment ranked 44^th in health, 48^th in economic well-being, 49^th in family and community, and 50^th in education.

Give the report credit for examining the role illegitimacy and family fragmentation play in harming children: “In 2014, 36 percent of single-parent families had incomes below the poverty line, compared with 8 percent of married couples with children. Compared with children in married-couple families, children raised in female-headed households are more likely to drop out of school, to have or cause a teen pregnancy and to experience a divorce in adulthood.”

But it’s important to note that there’s a liberal agenda behind the data presented. In the words of the foundation’s president and CEO, “The American people are expecting the next president and Congress to address their urgent concerns about economic inequality, stagnant wages, the dearth of good jobs for workers without a four-year college degree and the obstacles low-income students face in obtaining postsecondary education and training. On their behalf, we call on our country’s current and potential leaders across the political spectrum to seize this unique moment by taking bold and decisive action to reduce economic insecurity and restore the American promise of opportunity.” Rest assured, “bold and decisive action” does not include tax cuts, deregulation, school choice, and work requirements for welfare programs.

Kids Count is affiliated with state-based, media-savvy, far-left organizations that use the report to push legislators and governors for Big Government-based “solutions” to unacceptable child well-being. Preschool and Medicaid expansion are good examples. Other shaky claims are made as well. Albuquerque Business First allowed New Mexico Voices for Children Executive Director Veronica Garcia to assert that the state’s low ranking “makes it more difficult to attract businesses to New Mexico. What attracts them is an educated workforce and good child well-being. [This ranking] is counterproductive for business.”

Nonsense. Some of the most economically vibrant states (e.g., Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee) rank quite poorly on Kids Count. And several top performers (e.g., Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey) are deep-blue states with shrinking populations and fleeing business owners. Workforce skills are important, of course, but many other factors matter as well, including low taxes, reasonable regulations, and a right-to-work law.

No one questions the reality of New Mexico’s jaw-dropping social pathologies. Severe substance abuse, rampant out-of-wedlock births, abysmal educational attainment, and the like make life very tough for kids in the Land of Enchantment. That needs to change. But it isn’t likely to, as long as professional advocates for “children” here fail to grasp that government feeds the state’s self-destructiveness.

Yesterday, the legislature’s Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee met for the first time. The panel took testimony from David Abbey, director of the Legislative Finance Committee, who offered a sobering assessment of the state’s budget.

“Fiscal year-to-date revenues,” in March, were down 10 percent. “Gross receipts are clearly weak,” Abbey said. The figures he presented on individual industries were scary. Compared to the previous year, gross receipts from July 2015 to March 2016 fell by 46 percent in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. Manufacturing and transportation/warehousing were each off by 28 percent. Some industries are expanding — receipts for professional, scientific, and technical services rose by 17 percent — but growth rates are generally unimpressive.

Unfortunately, Abbey veered from impartial analysis and into advocacy, making the specious claim that “New Mexico has a revenue problem and a spending problem.” The Foundation has debunked that claim, and Rep. Antonio Maestas — probably not intentionally — provided further ammunition in yesterday’s meeting. The Albuquerque Democrat asked Abbey if the state has eliminated a single program or agency since the Great Recession sent revenues into a tailspin. The director couldn’t name one — responding that New Mexico has been “trimming” spending, and “not eliminating programs.”

Fortunately, several legislators opposed tax increases as the “solution” to New Mexico’s fiscal woes. Rep. James Strickler (R-Farmington) noted that 6,000 jobs have recently been lost in San Juan County, and people he knows who have never drawn an unemployment check in their lives are considering opportunities in other states. Sen. William Sharer (R-Farmington) mounted a spirited case for his plan to cut, and greatly simplify, the gross receipts tax.

The Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee will meet several more times before the start of the 2017 session, and the Foundation will keep monitoring the panel’s activities. New Mexico has a structural-overspending problem, and serious flaws in its tax structure. With a stagnant economy and declining population, meaningful policy progress is necessary, now. Let’s hope the committee produces recommendations that will both boost the state’s economy and generate sustained fiscal health.