Article and photos by Margaret Hopper, unless otherwise attributed

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It's a time of challenges €"and a time for changes €"according to Scott Terry, moderator at the Annual Lincoln Day Dinner held at Western New Mexico University on Saturday evening hosted by the Grant County Republican Party.

Before the program began, the Gila Highlanders, a group of local musicians playing early American tunes on fife and drum, strings and other instruments common at colonial times, set the historic atmosphere for the gathering. As the Highlanders retired, representatives of the Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League Detachment 1328 posted the colors and Republicans pledged again their loyalty to the nation and the freedoms it offers.

A young singer, Megan Gorog, sang two verses of The Star-Spangled Banner, a capella. Lequita Lett, long-time patriot in Grant County, offered the invocation asking God to forgive the disappointments and failures of our time and present government, as we hope to send forth a better example of responsible behavior with the freedom we still have.

As those dining were ending the meal, Terry finished a quick welcome and took a live message by phone and amplifier from Congressman Steve Pearce who thanked people for standing firm, working hard and bringing about the election changes last November.

Next, he introduced the first of three guest speakers, Aubrey Dunn, State Land Commissioner. Dunn also admitted the fight had been hard, mentioning the legal and financial efforts the opposition mounted to keep him from his narrow win.

Saying he served at the pleasure of the voters, he spoke of some changes his office was making to help New Mexico realize the economic opportunities that were already here. Much of the funding that the state depended on came from gas and oil; about 89 percent of it. Over 40 percent of the state's land was already under federal control, and the federal government wanted even more of it. He said one thing he did was send the BLM a notice that it had no permission to trespass on trust land.

Dunn said some early actions were to hire two new biologists, an archaeologist, and to recreate some files that were missing. They also worked on cleaning up some watershed areas. There were oil spills that had to be cleaned up. Ted Turner's wolf-raising facility was not what was first thought, and with a lot of state acreage involved, this issue would be back on the June agenda. The state depends on the land office to raise funds with the lands in its care, and his concern is both to protect those lands and see that the state and people benefit from their usage.

One unwanted symbol of federal presence was the "Brick Head" at the Land Office building. A lot of that brick had words like "hope" and "change" on it. People had asked him to get rid of it. And he said he did, at his own personal expense. What should replace it? He said he was considering a "pump-jack", a pretty good representation of gas and oil, and perhaps a solar panel. These were things that meant more to the prosperity of New Mexico and on which the future depended.

A present problem was the tendency of the federals to acquire more and more land, and its management wasn't necessarily the best for the state. One option Dunn mentioned was trade-out; if the federals insisted on acquiring certain lands, let them return others in exchange. In the past, they had pushed for lands and the state had not put up much of a stand. He hoped to stop the losses.

Scott Terry took advantage of the speaker-breaks to auction off a pair of pink boxer shorts autographed and sent by America's Toughest Sheriff, Joe Arpaijo. After the first couple of bids, Dunn asked if he could play auctioneer; Terry motioned him up, and the show was on. Dunn did an impressive job and raised about as much money as he did laughter. The crowd loved it.

The next speaker, D. Dowd Muska, recently from Connecticut and now hired by Paul Gessing's Rio Grande Foundation, a New Mexico research company, presented a seven-page collection of maps, graphs and other state-to-state comparisons specially prepared as Grant County information for this Lincoln Day event.

Page one showed the percentage of land owned by the federal government in each of the 50 states. All states in and west of the Rockies were 30 percent or more federally owned, but New Mexico's 42 percent paled beside Alaska's 70 percent and Nevada's 84-plus percent. Another comparison, federal taxes paid by citizens compared to federal spending on citizens, showed New Mexico, West Virginia and Mississippi at the bottom of the heap, terribly dependent on government, unable to support their people, not much better off than Puerto Rico. (Sources: Census Bureau, IRS and The Economist estimates.)

Another comparison of public-sector and federal-contract jobs as a percentage of total jobs shows NM as the highest receiver of all 50 states, suggesting our state doesn't function well for the benefit of its citizens. On state/local tax burden, business tax climate and gross receipts tax increases, New Mexico compares quite pitifully with its neighboring states. As Dowd said, being 38th out of 50 states with Utah and Texas at 9th and 10th just kills our business prospects.

Schools are another negative for the state. The per-pupil expenses have more than doubled since 1972 and SAT scores are drifting down, not up. Student numbers have increased about seven or eight percent between 1992 and 2009, but staff increases are up closer to 39 percent more than before.

Job-wise, surrounding states show some rebounding, with Utah and Texas rising about 12 to 14 percent over a five-year period. New Mexico broke over the zero-gain point about a year ago and hasn't yet risen to a three percent gain. In job creation, 2014, the New Mexico payroll did begin to improve, but lags far behind all the neighboring states. Dowd noted that his former state, Connecticut, was even worse, as it trailed the entire country.

So, what can the United Van Lines visual show us? Most of the states around New Mexico are either holding their own numbers or increasing in population. Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado are gaining people. Utah, Kansas and New Mexico are losing people. With fewer jobs available for the young people and with serious drops for people nearing age 60, they have to leave to find work. Movers have the records.

The Rio Grande Foundation was careful to show sources for this information. Check it out at the website, www.riogradefoundation.org,  U.S. Labor Department, Cato Institute, Forbes, State of New Mexico financial reports, all agree with many others. New Mexico struggles in all departments. What keeps prosperity out and poverty in? Rio Grande looked at 2015 legislation. The opportunities were there; a number of business-friendly bills were not only proposed, they passed in the House, some with plenty of bipartisan support.

HB272 would have established framework to legalize ride-sharing services, (passing 56-8); HB238 would have reduced workers' compensation for employees injured while drunk or on drugs, (64-2). Other legislation included HB333, tax credits for opportunity scholarships; HB75, becoming a right-to-work state; HB55, reformation of the state's prevailing-wage mandate; HB482 would have reduced unemployment benefits about eight points on average wages earned-still benefits, but more affordable. There were more bills, too. Not perfect, but more help than we have now.

The state Senate, in its wisdom, decided if it couldn't have what it wanted, it would refuse to pass any of the bills that business wanted. Nothing is what it offered the workers and businesses it claimed to represent. As Dowd asked earlier, what responsible business would agree to come into this state to be mistreated? The facts are plentiful. Look them up on the Internet. States all around give businesses a much better deal. New Mexico and its people cannot rise above what its legislature will allow. The state needs change, and quickly, from decades of poor laws. The 2015 senate was an absolute roadblock for business.

The final speaker was newly elected party chairman Mike Rowse. He stressed the need to work together and start identifying future candidates. They were needed in the city, at county level, and other places. It was time to put in more hours and be involved with more people. He said Ronald Reagan never abandoned his conservative stand, and neither should we. There was no reason to tone down the conservative message. It was a good one then and still is, now.

The idea that Ferguson, Missouri, should turn criminals into "heroes" made no sense. There were real heroes to promote and we should do that. It was time for change locally. There was much work to be done, and we should do it. Unity and togetherness were important actions to take. He asked each one to help bring success in the future. It would take a lot to bring needed change.