New Mexico’s dumpster-fire legislative session ended Saturday with no budget agreement between lawmakers and the governor and no noteworthy bills that promise to improve the Land of Enchantment’s dire economic/fiscal health.
But on the bright side, some truly awful pieces of legislation were not passed. Among the bullets dodged:
* Several bills, including HB 117 and SB 344, sought to hike income-tax rates.
* Multiple minimum-wage bills, including HB 27 and HB 67, would have raised the mandate to a jaw-dropping (and hyper-job-destroying) $15.00. An increase that was adopted hikes the minimum wage to $9.00 on April 1, 2018, with a lower, temporary rate allowed for trainee employees. It could be vetoed by the governor.
* HJR 2, the “brainchild” of Rep. Bill McCamley (D-Mesilla Park), would have squandered $7 billion from the Land Grant Permanent Fund on “infrastructure and energy projects,” as well as “clean energy and water technologies” and “early childhood services.”
* The charter-school moratorium, spearheaded by Rep. Christine Trujillo (D-Albuquerque), would have squashed all applications for the important school-choice option through January 1, 2020.
* SB 42, SB 54, SB 102, and SJR 7 attempted to disenfranchise New Mexico’s residents in presidential contests by awarding the state’s Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
Yes, the 2017 session was a disaster. But hey, it could have been worse….
This is what happens when state government is controlled by Liberals. All they can do is “Tax and Spend”, never mind the cost. Living in the SE area of NM is eye opening. This state is controlled by the area from Las Cruces north to Alburquerque, east to the state line of Texas, meaning that 3/4 (more or less) of this state is under control of liberals. The only thing I see this state becoming is another California or worse, Detroit.