Legislative Heroes and Zeroes Update: Currently, over 1,100 pieces of legislation (901 Bills, 196 Memorials, 35 Resolutions) are making their way through the House and Senate. At the midpoint of the session, there are way too many ‘revenue enhancement/tax increase’ and government growth bills that do ZERO good for New Mexico on the table.
On a recent national conference call with reporters, New Mexico Business Coalition (NMBC) president Carla Sonntag endorsed the use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s “venting and flaring” rule. The rule imposes new federal restrictions on top of existing state and federal regulations dealing with methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells.
School board elections matter! School board elections are being held around the state on Tuesday, 2/7/17. If you didn't vote early, vote Tuesday.
Don't have kids in school and think it doesn't affect you? Think again! If the kids being educated in the New Mexico school system stay in New Mexico, they will follow one of two paths: 1) They will become New Mexico's workforce; or 2) They will become New Mexico's next generation of government assistance recipients.
HJM 5 Chaco-Area Fracking Lease Moratorium (Reps Derrick J. Lente and Patricia Roybal Caballero) would stop fracking in the Chaco area. It would also hamper the industry that provides the lifeblood to our state for a full third of the New Mexico's budget.
Crazy times in the state legislature! There is too much to share, but a couple of things that need your attention:
NMBC opposes legislation that arbitrarily raises the minimum wage as it was never meant to support a family. Non-market driven increases create additional hardship on businesses and employees resulting in forced inflation and job losses that put families in a worse position. There are more productive ways to help low income families improve their economic outlook such as providing effective skills training that could help them achieve better jobs and/or pay increases.
Stop Raiding the Land Grant Permanent Fund: Our elected officials need to be reminded that responsible withdrawals from the State Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) are necessary to provide for our children’s education in perpetuity. To increase withdrawal rates and risk our children’s future is irresponsible and would jeopardize the fund.
What New Mexican’s need is accountability for the funds currently being spent: The answer is not to increase the rate of LGPF disbursements, but instead to focus on direct learning programs that yield beneficial results without violating federal requirements. That could be accomplished if the state would stop funding special interest groups and put the money into our teachers and quality educational materials.
New Mexico consistently ranks 49th nationwide for education. How’s that working out for our people? Obviously not well. Our kids are not receiving a quality education and some can’t read when they graduate – if, in fact, they do graduate. In addition, companies often use our educational system as yet another reason to avoid our state.
Can we do better? Of course! There is little place to go but up.
Log Rolling Unfair to City Voters and Damaging to Job Opportunities
The Albuquerque Coalition for a Healthy Economy (A.C.H.E.) announced a lawsuit against the City of Albuquerque in State District Court due to the Healthy Workforce Ordinance. A.C.H.E. members, including New Mexico Business Coalition, believe the proposed ordinance is a fraud on city voters because it hides a vast number of punitive, unnecessary and expensive details from public debate and consideration. The proposed ordinance funded by a collection of out of state special interests presents at least seven different questions as one. Voters will be forced to decide on the ordinance during the October 3rd Municipal Election. If enacted the ordinance will be the most expensive and expansive in the nation, leading to lost job opportunities and businesses to relocate.