According to a Senate Budget Committee report, we are spending $168 a day for each household receiving welfare benefits. On the other hand, the median household income in America averages out to $137.13 a day. Welfare now pays the equivalent of $30.00 an hour for a 40-hour week, while the average job pays $25.00 an hour. What’s the problem with that much support? Thomas Jefferson put it this way, “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

How is all this working out in New Mexico? In an article published in late 2012 by Forbes, New Mexico is one of 11 states in an economic “Death Spiral”, and part of the reason for this ranking is the fact we have more people living in NM receiving social welfare assistance of some kind than we do paying taxes to fund those programs. The fact is, we are one of the poorest states in America.

New Mexico deserves better and the NMBC helps voters identify HEROES and ZEROS. It is time our elected officials focus on growing our economy with jobs from the private sector. It’s time to put party politics and individual agendas aside and do what’s best for all New Meixcans. The NMBC recognizes there are elected officials doing just that. They are NMBC HEROES. Then again, there are elected officials who do all they can to support legislation that will grow the government, expand a progressive, socialist agenda and increase taxes on businesses and workers to pay for it all.

Speaking of Legislation that is a ZERO: SB66, CREATE OFFICE OF PEACE, sponsored by Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, would require new office space, equipment, personnel and fuel the kind of government spending and growth that does nothing to help our economy. The purpose of the bill is: “To establish an office dedicated to peacemaking, social justice and human rights; training that will enable the prevention, management and resolution of conflict without violence; and the study and implementation of appropriate educational curricula at all levels and of conditions that are conducive to a culture of peace.” One of our well spoken NMBC followers put it this way, “The bill is so convoluted, vague, and poorly written there is no way to know what the Office of Peace is supposed to do except spend taxpayer money.” How much money? The Fiscal Impact Report (FIR) for SB66 says it would create continuing demands of on the General Fund that could be $500,000 or more per year.

There are many government expansion bills, like SB66, being pushed in Santa Fe that take time, energy, and focus away from what our elected officials should be doing to improve our state. The NMBC encourages you to let your elected officials know how you feel with a phone call, email or an in person vist to the Capital. Senator Ortiz Y Pino can be reached by email at: jortizyp@msn.com or by phone at: (505) 986-4482.

Minimum Wage Legislation Update: Another attempt at a minimum wage increase will be heard today in House Labor and Human Resources Committee. HB 668, Increase Minimum Wage with Inflation, (Rep Miguel Garcia, D).

The NMBC will remind New Mexican’s about the job performance of elected officials the next time they’re asking for your vote.