Editorials
Editorial content. Content posted here may or may not reflect the opinions of the Beat. They reflect the opinions of the author.
Don’t get too excited about those rebates!
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 12 June 2023 12 June 2023
By Paul J. Gessing
According to New Mexico’s Tax and Revenue Department rebate checks (or transfers to bank accounts) will be going out at any time during the middle of June. At the Rio Grande Foundation we welcome the $500 or $1,000 (depending on single/married filing status). This is especially true at a time when inflation is rising faster than wages.
But New Mexico is in the midst of an unprecedented boom in its oil and gas industry and, while those checks are nice, they are a pittance relative to the windfall being experienced in State government. Worse, unless the Legislature and Gov. take concrete action and soon to diversify the economy, New Mexico will waste this unique opportunity.
First the numbers: according to the Legislature’s analysts, the one-time “cost” of the rebates is $667 million. You may recall that the Legislature began the 2023 session with a surplus of $3.6 billion and spent $1.2 billion of that.
Today is the 79th Anniversary of "D-Day"
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 06 June 2023 06 June 2023
79 years ago, on this date during World War II—June 6, 1944—American, British, and Canadian military forces combined to launch the largest amphibious invasion force ever assembled in world history.
Operation Overlord was the official codename for this Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Germany in Normandy, a region in the northwest corner of France about 185 miles across the English Channel from England. But the world has come to know this date as D-Day, the day the Allied forces took the battle directly to Germany—a little over four years after Germany invaded and then occupied France. The time had finally come to mount a major offensive to free France and drive the German occupiers out of the country.
The actual planned date was June 5. But bad weather made General Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, change the date to the following day.
Convention of States New Mexico brought forward two pieces of legislation in the 2023 session
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 24 May 2023 24 May 2023
During the 2023 New Mexico Legislature, Convention of States New Mexico (COSNM) brought forward two pieces of legislation. Senate Joint Resolution #5 and House Joint Resolution #13 contained identical language calling for a convention of the states as provided for in Article V of the Constitution of the United States. SJR5 was referred to the Senate Rules Committee, where the committee's chairwoman, Katy Duhigg, openly declared her refusal to schedule the resolution for hearing. HJR13 was heard in the House Government, Elections, & Indian Affairs Committee, Chaired by Representative Wonda Johnson, where the resolution was tabled.
We will continue to bring this legislation forward until it is ultimately passed. Our determination is driven by the unsustainable level of federal spending & debt, the relentless growth of an over-reaching federal bureaucracy, and the professionalized "dug-in" character of all branches of federal government. This is corrosive to the well-being of all Americans, yet our self-dealing Congress offers no solutions. The remedial task falls to the states, hence the language written into Article V by the framers specific to the power of the states.
Attached, please find the text of HJR13, along with my February 18th testimony before the House Government, Elections, & Indian Affairs Committee.
Legislature's 529 Expansion a positive step for New Mexico
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 17 May 2023 17 May 2023
By Paul J. Gessing
The 2023 New Mexico legislative session was generally disappointing for New Mexicans who wish to see much-needed K-12 education reform. However, it was not a total loss. In fact, one bill did pass that could help thousands of New Mexico families pay for educational options that work best for them. Without a single "no" vote during the 2023 session, HB 342 will soon be the "law of the land."
The bipartisan bill was sponsored in the House by Republican Minority Leader Ryan Lane and by Democrat Majority Leader Peter Wirth in the Senate. It was signed into law by Gov. Lujan Grisham, also a Democrat. HB 342 aligns New Mexico law with federal law as updated during the Trump Administration and recent legislation under the Secure 2.0 Act.
Over the years Congress has expanded the use of 529 plans to pay for kindergarten through 12th grade tuition and included student loan repayment and apprenticeship program expenses. And in 2023, Congress added a provision to allow rollovers of unused 529 plan funds into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary.
Editorial Response: Universal School Meals: Reflecting on Our Society
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 15 May 2023 15 May 2023
The Grant County Beat published the article, Heinrich, Sanders, Omar, and Gillibrand Seek to Expand and Make Permanent Universal School Meals (https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/non-local-news-releases/78237-heinrich-sanders-omar-and-gillibrand-seek-to-expand-and-make-permanent-universal-school-meals) on Sunday, May 14, 2023. It was subtitled, "Legislation would save New Mexico nearly $40 million annually." Despite not having much time or energy, I felt compelled to respond.
Who would argue with the statement, "Every child deserves to eat?" That statement closes the first paragraph of the "Bill Summary" of the "Universal School Meals Program Act" (https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/school-meals-summary-pdf.pdf). If you haven't heard of this legislation sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ilhan Omar, the legislation proposes to provide "free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to all school children."
According to a March 28, 2023 press release from the governor's office, New Mexico is one of five states that offers a form of universal school meals. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 4- Healthy Universal School Meals, which states, among other things, that "Public school districts and charter schools operating the national school lunch program and the school breakfast program shall establish a program to offer high-quality meals at no charge to all students" (https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/23%20Regular/final/SB0004.pdf).
New Mexico Will See Big Progress for Afterschool and Summer Learning
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 28 April 2023 28 April 2023
By Lt. Governor Howie Morales and May Sagbakken, executive director of New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network
April 28, 2023
The New Mexico Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered major victories for children and families during its 2023 meeting. We are reversing trends that pushed New Mexico towards the bottom of key national rankings for decades, and we have more work to do.
New tax measures add more than 200,000 modest- and low-income families who now will be able to claim a larger credit of up to $600 per child, benefiting 350,000 children. The Governor’s priority of ensuring all students in our public schools be offered a healthy breakfast and lunch free of charge will lessen child food insecurity. Rebates to taxpayers of $500 for single and $1,000 for married individuals will be a boost for children in the lowest earning families. Substantial funding increases for childcare assistance, free pre-K education for 3- and 4-year-olds, and home visiting for families who are pregnant or have kids under age five all will improve overall child well-being across our state.
New Mexico’s misguided approach to economic development
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 25 April 2023 25 April 2023
By Paul J. Gessing
In her message in which she explained her veto of large portions of the Legislature-passed tax bill, Gov. Lujan Grisham wrote, “Although HB 547 has many laudable tax reform measures, I have grave concerns about the sustainability of this tax package as a whole.”
She wrote this while the State of New Mexico sits on a $3.6 billion budget surplus thanks to oil and gas revenues (a boom that shows no signs of slowing down). She also signed a 14 percent budget increase which grew the size of government by $1.2 billion and included everything from increased film subsidies to $10 million for an abortion clinic primarily to serve Texans. Last year’s budget increase was over 13 percent as well.
Ag Census response needed from New Mexico ag industry
- Category: Editorials Editorials
- Published: 23 April 2023 23 April 2023
Every five years, members of the agriculture community are called upon to document their operation as part of the nation's agriculture census. The information provided by each of us is used to tell an accurate story about the impacts of agriculture in our local communities, state and nation. Without accurate data, we simply cannot tell our story, and policymakers will make decisions with only partial information.
As of April 21, the New Mexico response rate to the 2022 Census of Agriculture was just 38.6%. We encourage each producer, large and small, to complete this critical survey as part of the agriculture census. All individual information is protected from disclosure. If you have received your census questionnaire, please complete and return it as directed by the USDA. If you received a postcard with a control number, use that to submit the information online at the website on the card. If you did not receive either, or are new to agriculture, please call the USDA Customer Service Center at 1-888-424-7878 Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. MDT. New agriculture operations also have the option of signing up at https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/static/get-counted.html.