NM needs leaders to focus, not play politics
Governor divides New Mexicans by promoting all mail-in election, exploiting racial issues
The New Mexico Legislature is just days away from holding a long overdue special session to address the largest budget shortfall since the Great Depression. This massive budget shortfall of $2.4 billion is due to historically low oil prices and a foundering economy brought on by a nearly three-month closure of businesses across the state.
This year’s budget problems are just the beginning. State economists are predicting that next year will be an even greater challenge. Unfortunately, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her allies in the Legislature plan to put a Band-Aid on the budget and kick this ticking time bomb down the road. Their plan to avoid fixing our budget problems until after the election is purely political.
New Mexico is at a critical point: Thousands of New Mexicans have lost their jobs, hundreds of small businesses have closed forever, mental health problems are skyrocketing, and on top of it all is a level of social unrest that is dividing our population.
During stressful and uncertain times people look to government leaders for reassurance. Policymakers must come together and put partisan agendas aside and focus on solutions. However, this is an election year, and winning elections is apparently more important than bringing peace, soothing fears, saving jobs, fixing our economy and repairing the budget. As the saying goes, never let a good crisis go to waste.
I predict the governor will try to further divide New Mexico citizens by exploiting current racial and social justice issues to further a partisan agenda, and she will do this with little concern for the long-term damage it will do to our state. For the governor to take this moment to capitalize on the fear and uncertainty facing our state by forcing divisive issues is disrespectful to every New Mexican.
Until the governor’s press conference June 10, we had no idea she planned on hijacking the legislative process and forcing the consideration of partisan issues. Rather than focusing on forging bipartisan agreements on the dire problems we are facing, she is more interested in advancing her national political standing. The governor’s plan to change election law is an indication political advantage rather than solutions is the actual goal of the upcoming special session. I’m not surprised the governor plans to use COVID-19 fears to make changes to election laws that will weaken the integrity of our voting systems in the November elections.
It was reported more than 1,300 absentee ballots arrived too late to be counted in the June primary. Now the governor is wanting to expand our voting system to an all mail-in election, opening us up to an even greater level of voter disenfranchisement. Creating a voting system that relies on the postal services’ timeliness will result in ballots not being legally tallied. There’s one surefire way to know your vote is counted: Go to the polls.
It’s important to note the governor has not been telling the truth when she makes statements she is working with leaders in both parties in the Legislature or her decisions have bipartisan support. For that matter, she has barely spoken with Republican leaders at all during the last three months. Even the speaker of the House claims the governor has not communicated to him what she has planned for the special session.
It is fair to say the special session will be dominated more by partisan considerations than efforts to solve the unprecedented problems we are facing. This lack of leadership is a tremendous disappointment. New Mexico deserves better.