Commentary By Carla J. Sonntag

President and Founder, New Mexico Business Coalition

It’s admirable to see how hard our legislators are working. Whether I agree with them or not, they are focused on moving their agendas.

The question is whether or not those agendas are best for our state.

Taking away our rights: The House passed HB 85 Union Security Agreements along party lines with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing over the weekend. The bill, if signed into law, would stop additional counties from passing Right to Work (RTW) ordinances. It also retroactively takes away the rights of the workers who work in 10 NM counties or the Village of Ruidoso that passed RTW ordinances. Incredibly the bill states in Section 1 B that ‘any employer or labor organization may execute and apply an agreement REQUIRING membership in a labor organization AS A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT.’ 

Recently the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) had a $900 million mill levy and bond package defeated.  Voters were clear they love our kids and respect our teachers. They do not, however, feel APS has been a good steward of their tax money. 

We hoped that APS understood that message, but we don’t see evidence they do. 

New Mexico is a state currently dependent on oil and gas production. YES, we are dependent on this industry that provides a minimum of one-third of our state’s budget.  Imagine life without that industry . . . where would we find the money for education and so many other things? 

Fact is, right now, we would be in a world of hurt. If you have doubts, look at this report that the oil and gas industry just released.

With some elected officials who identify as ‘progressive’ attacking that industry at every turn, it begs the question, “What are they thinking?”   While well intentioned to protect our environment and bring in more money for schools, these views translate into big problems for our state that seem to be counterproductive to their desired results.  Want to see how?

The 2019 Legislative Session has been packed with action so far. Here’s a collection of thoughts, information and updates on various topics:

• The Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF): Protection of the LGPF continues to be an NMBC priority and we are grateful to Senators who understand its importance. While many in the House want to make it their bank, we think the Senate will continue to be the adults on that subject and maintain its integrity. Read our latest here and an Albuquerque Journal article here.

• Bill estimates two months ago vs reality: Several people in both Chambers thought that 5,000 to 8,000 bills could be the magic number this year for introduction. There is enough gusto by some legislators to make that happen, but that has to be coupled with the reality of how many bills the writers (Legislative Council Services) can pump out.

A study by Washington University on minimum wage was very enlightening.  From an employer’s perspective, each $1/hour increase in minimum wage costs the employer approximately $2,600/year per employee.  So if New Mexico’s statewide minimum wage increases from $7.50 to $10, it will cost employers $6,500/year per employee in those brackets.   

There have been lots of attempts to raid the State Land Grant Permanent Fund and that's nothing new.  You can read more about this ongoing issue here and here.

All three Albuquerque Public School (APS) ballot questions received a loud NO vote on Election Day. What this means is that property taxes won’t increase and because the existing bond issue was defeated, property taxes should decrease slightly for property owners in the APS school district. 

By now, if you live in the APS area (including Bernalillo County and parts of Sandoval County) you should definitely have received one of these ballots in your mailbox. These must be returned by February 5th. We encourage you to vote, but before you do, consider whether APS needs more of your tax dollars or to better manage the money they get now.  What does NMBC think?