By Paul Gessing
The Rio Grande Foundation has been clear in expressing support for a multi-pronged approach to improving our State’s roads. To be clear, the deterioration of our roads is a real issue. Their poor condition costs New Mexicans thousands of dollars annually according to recent studies.
So, we applaud the focus on roads in Santa Fe. Sadly, SB 2 which would add $1.5 billion in road funding through bonding (debt) is the wrong approach for numerous reasons. Most notably:
1. New Mexico has been in a budget bonanza with rapidly increased spending (80 percent general fund growth since Lujan Grisham took office). There should never have been a shortage of road funds or deteriorating conditions on our roads in the first place. The Legislature and Gov. should use plentiful existing funds to improve and expand our roads.
2. There is $7 billion unspent capital outlay available that could be repurposed by the Legislature to essential transportation projects like roads.
3. Perhaps worst of all, the bill would increase taxes and fees to generate additional revenue for the State Road Fund, including a 35% increase to the weight-distance tax on heavy commercial vehicles and a 25% increase to vehicle registration fees.
New Mexicans should not be forced to pay for the unwillingness of the Legislature and Gov. to properly fund the most basic government services (basic infrastructure). This is especially true when the watchword nationwide is “affordability.” Raising taxes and taking on new debt when government has plenty of money and has had it for years would hurt hard-working New Mexicans by making vehicle registrations more expensive and raising costs for commercial vehicles that carry freight and other items throughout our State.
While there is one positive “revenue enhancement” contained in the bill (a fee on EV’s to fund the roads since they don’t pay the gas tax) that doesn’t save this proposal from being fatally flawed. SB 2 has been rated as a -6 out of a possible +8 to -8 in the Rio Grande Foundation’s Freedom Index.
The Legislature should remove the tax hikes from SB 2 and instead prioritize the use of existing revenues to provide needed infrastructure improvements. New Mexico consistently is ranked poorly on a variety of governance issues. One of the biggest reasons is that our elected officials prioritize new spending on things like “free” childcare while neglecting basic needs like roads.
The 30-day session is still in its early days. There is ample time to improve SB 2 and remove unnecessary tax and fee increases.
Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, tax-exempt research and educational organization.
