2018 Election: ‘Setting the Record Straight’ on U.S. Senate Race

Concerning a televised New Mexico Senate debate featuring Martin Heinrich, Gary Johnson and Mick Rich - there were two things that really stuck out:

1) Senator Heinrich stated that he works in a bipartisan manner. Say what? Fact is Heinrich is on record numerous times opposing the other party and the president, just because they’re on the other side.

2) Senator Heinrich’s claim that people who are paid a lot, pay less Social Security taxes than teachers and firefighters.

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2018 Election: ‘Setting the Record Straight’ on Judicial Retention Races

When considering the judges races, those with a 'Retain' or 'Do Not Retain' question, NMBC takes exception to the report put out by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC). JPEC receives nearly $300,000 of taxpayer money to spend however they want in distributing their report. It turns out JPEC has no particular standard for their ratings - we called the office and heard that directly from them. So even though a judge scores high by all those who respond to a survey, a 'Do not Retain' recommendation can be made based on their interview 'performance' with the JPEC committee. See the JPEC recommendations HERE.

Is this of value to taxpayers? You decide when you consider the following:

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Supreme Court rules in favor of Worker Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that government workers who choose not to join a union cannot be charged for the cost of collective bargaining. This is a huge victory…

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Stand Against the Progressive Agenda

New Mexico Business Coalition (NMBC) does not support the hijacked redefinition of 'progressive' and all that it stands for.

Why?

The term “progressive” has been hijacked and redefined to represent far left, extreme ideals that are wreaking havoc on our free enterprise system.

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Stop the insanity in Sandoval County

Sandoval County Ordinance Resolution Needed

Commentary by Carla J. Sonntag, President and Founder, New Mexico Business Coalition

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. In the case of the Sandoval County oil and gas ordinance, we seem to be playing that game, but with new features that add to the craziness.

Oil and gas operations have been in the County since the 1950s. While the idea of an ordinance isn’t new, Commissioners can’t seem to reach a decision on how to handle it. At least five times now, the Commission has had ordinances in front of them and have been unable to act.

Why? Because irrational activists have drowned out the voice of reason on what constitutes a judicious and useful ordinance. Hysteria booming through the halls of the Sandoval County Government Building controlled the conversation. “Tribal consultation hasn’t happened!” (The County has no authority over tribal lands.) “The ordinance is being rammed through at the last minute!” (Sandoval County has considered an ordinance for two years.) “It will destroy our land and water!” (There has never been a documented case of contaminated water due to oil and gas operations in New Mexico.)

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Right to Work (RTW) Facts for NM County Ordinances

To address misinformation about the Right to Work (RTW) ordinance NMBC is supporting that recently passed in Sandoval and Otero County (and is under consideration in several other counties), consider these answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Will the RTW ordinance affect our teachers, firefighters or police?

No! They are completely unaffected.

The RTW ordinance only affects private sector employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a federal law. No state, county, or municipal employees will be affected by the ordinance in any way.

In fact, hiring halls for construction trades, such as the carpenters or operating engineers, are unaffected. Many employers find the hiring hall arrangements allow them to screen and hire qualified employees, and they are not prohibited by right to work laws in states or counties.

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Hands off of New Mexico’s permanent fund

Hands off permanent fund

Letter to the Editor, Albuquerque Journal, published on April 7, 2018. Written by JOE STEHLING of Angel Fire

I TRULY DO not understand why the activists who want to tap our permanent fund are willing to sacrifice the future of New Mexico to throw more money at early childhood education. They have no idea of the economics and long-term impact on drawing down the fund for unproven results.

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Read more about the article Ballot trouble
Candidates are facing legal challenges over their nominating petitions

Ballot trouble

Petition problems threaten some candidates; some candidates have already been disqualified to be on the ballot. The cut-off date for candidates to turn in their nominating petitions with the required number of valid signatures has come and gone. Besides the risk of not having enough legible, properly registered voter signatures on their petitions, several candidates are facing legal challenges (to have them disqualified) based on information printed on the petition itself.

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Are taxpayer funded job incentives a good investment?

People often ask if NMBC supports Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP). Quite honestly, JTIP has rarely been a good thing for New Mexico. While NMBC can support the concept of what was designed to provide on-the-job and classroom training that reimburses for 50 to 75 percent of wages for newly created jobs, it seems we just have not found an effective way to manage it. New Mexico is really good at giving away taxpayer dollars, but we often get nothing for it.

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