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…
Why?
The term “progressive” has been hijacked and redefined to represent far left, extreme ideals that are wreaking havoc on our free enterprise system.
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.)
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.
Jay C. Block was born and raised in Manchester, NH and grew up with a strong interest to serve at a young age. In 1987 and early 1988 he worked for the Jack Kemp for President campaign during the New Hampshire primary season. In 1989, Jay graduated from high school and decided to serve his country by enlisting in the Air Force Reserve. He then transferred to the Air National Guard in North Dakota while attending college at North Dakota State University where he interned for a US Senator in 1993 and graduated in 1995 with a political science degree and a commission through the Air Force ROTC program.
Jonathan Williams is the Chief Economist and Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where he works with state policymakers, congressional leaders and members of the private sector to develop fiscal policy solutions for the states. Williams also co-authors Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer Economic State Competitiveness Index with Reagan economist Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. Prior to joining ALEC, Williams served as staff economist at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, authoring numerous tax policy studies.
Legislative Update: There is still time for a grouping of anti-crime bills to pass both chambers. NMBC is pleased to report continued hard work and cooperation by leaders from both parties in Santa Fe to pass an omnibus package of 5 bills that would improve safety and help fight crime in our state.
NMBC stands against massive overspending by our federal government and the band-aid approach to 'keeping government open.' Yesterday our elected officials in Washington, D.C., were faced with voting on another…
The House passed HJR 1 Land Grant Fund Distributions, CA, Reps ‘Moe’ Maestas, Javier Martinez, and Stephanie Garcia Richards. It’s sad for our state when so many representatives misunderstand the proper use of the land grant permanent fund and what raiding it would mean to our children in future generations.
This fund is not a piggy bank or rainy day fund to be raided whenever you think of something we should be doing in New Mexico. No one disagrees that our children need a better education, but we’ve seen proof positive that money is not the answer. We’ve increased funding for 10 years and yet our results of a poor educational system have not changed. Obviously money is not the answer. But if you take more of those precious funds now, there will be smaller distributions later.
Senate Public Affairs committee tables SB 179 Employee Preference Act, Senator Ingle. The union representatives gave impassioned testimony about those who want to kill the unions and how Right to Work (RTW) legislation is destroying the economy in every state that has enacted the legislation.
That’s just too much nonsense to cover here, because we’ve seen RTW states’ economies take off after passage of RTW legislation. We’ve seen huge corporations relocate away from non-RTW states to RTW states. But what’s interesting is that the unions are also saying that their membership in New Mexico is growing significantly.