Session won’t cure what ails New Mexico
The 2023 legislative session is more than halfway over, and so far, I believe Democratic legislators have failed to address the core issue facing New Mexico’s families — crime, lack of health care, out-of-control energy prices and a failing education system. Recently, instead of dealing with problems New Mexicans care about, Democrats passed a budget that represented an explosion in state spending since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham came into office — a 50% increase in the size of state government in four short years, a feat unachievable without record oil and gas production.
New Mexico progressives who control the Capitol can’t spend their way out of the mess their failed policies have created. Fifty percent growth in our state budget means New Mexicans are spending more than ever on education, health care, public safety and every other government agency. Yet, no notable improvements have been made. If you listen to the progressives, one would think New Mexico is a roaring success. The fact is, New Mexico is unfortunately in much worse shape than presented.
You do not have to read the paper every day to see that New Mexico’s education spending, or “moonshot” per the governor, has not resulted in educational success. Rather, our kids are failing to make the grade.
New Mexico’s streets are becoming increasingly unsafe while at the same time we are supposedly “making historical investments in public safety.”
New Mexico families are having to decide between paying for food or paying skyrocketing utility bills while Democrats tout our “abundant wind and solar programs that will deliver cheap and affordable energy bills.”
New Mexico health care providers are fleeing our state, yet, according to legislative leaders, “New Mexico is making historical investments in Medicaid and other health care programs.”
The reality is, while New Mexico progressives pop the corks on Champagne bottles for spending all that oil and gas money, New Mexico is falling further and further behind other states. It is almost comical that Democrats demonize the very industry that is providing for their bloated budgets. Meanwhile, their spending spree has produced zero results.
The fact is, New Mexico will not change, no matter how much oil and gas money we spend, until we get serious about reform: educational freedom, meaningful criminal justice reform, an energy policy focused more on affordability and reliability rather than “green” talking points, and a health care system that brings doctors in, not chases them away. Until then, New Mexico will only truly excel at one thing: spending money from the very source those in power so conveniently vilify.