NM’s capital outlay needs an accountability plunger

If you shove $925 million into a pipeline that already has a $737 million backlog, what do you think is going to happen?

The best-case scenario is a whole lot of nothing. The worst, a whole lot of nothing good. And yet New Mexico continues to shove hundreds of millions of desperately needed dollars intended to improve aging or build new infrastructure into what amounts to a broken pipeline.

Make that a pipeline with little oversight and even less accountability.

New Mexico is the only state in the nation that carves up its capital spending like political pork, with chunks going to the governor, senators and representatives. They do not have to prioritize projects, ensure they are fully funded, check to see if they are wanted or needed by the communities getting them, or put their names on the spending requests. It is a random process that forgoes gamechanging infrastructure investments in clean water, safe bridges and driveable highways for things like half-built courthouses and thousands of small items, including band uniforms, gym mats and grass seed financed via 10-year bonds. Much of what actually gets purchased is used and discarded long before its debt is paid.

Worse, much of what is funded never comes to be, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the sidelines that should be working to improve New Mexico.

And some that is allocated is misused, for salaries (the National Hispanic Cultural Center has been ordered to repay) or private gain (former Torrance County Sheriff Heath White is charged with embezzling public funds intended for department vehicles).

The only state system ranked worse is Alabama, which has no system at all.

For years, lawmakers have killed smart capital outlay reform bills that would inject responsibility to New Mexico taxpayers. Santa Fe-based Think New Mexico has proposed setting up a bipartisan commission to vet and rank projects based on need, as well as requiring lawmakers to put their names on what they are spending public money on. But the current system, which the backlog proves is not working for taxpayers or residents, works just fine for politicians.

And now New Mexico has shoved another $925 million into its plugged-up capital outlay pipeline. When the 2020 budget-centric legislative session begins, first on the to-do list should be for lawmakers to show how many projects are still in the backup.

And how many have taken public money right down the drain.

“Capital planning is a virtual oxymoron in New Mexico.” — Governing Magazine