Did you know that New Mexico has a total of 33 college campuses? That includes 7 colleges with 17 locations offering four year degrees and 10 colleges with 16 campuses offering two year degrees. With all those educational facilities, you’d think New Mexico would be at the top of the nation for education, right? Maybe if we put more money into actually educating our children and college students instead of overbuilding facilities, we might be.
For comparison: Arizona, with a 2013 population of over 6.6 million people, has only 3 colleges offering four year degrees. New Mexico’s 2013 population was less than 2.1 million people. How does New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the nation, justify over double the number of four year institutes with less than one third the population compared to Arizona? Why do we continue to fund this expansion? If New Mexico was considering funding our two primary college campuses and not the other 15 various locations, that would be a different issue entirely.
So there’s no misunderstanding, here’s clarification on NMBC’s position:
The NMBC generally believes there is too much fraud, waste and abuse in government and the quickest way to stop it, is to stop the flow of taxpayer money to fund it. For that reason, the NMBC encourages voters to consider all sides of the issue. We have found that in the rare cases where voters reject a bond issue (like the $150 million General Obligation Bond for Higher Education that voters defeated in 2010) elected officials and university directors take notice of public opinion.
The NMBC understands bond issues provide for improvement of government facilities and often provides jobs. We don’t oppose either. The important thing is for YOU to decide what is in the best interest of New Mexico and VOTE!
SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS: We’d love to know how you feel about this conversation. Please contact us at: nmbiz@nmbizcoalition.org.
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