Nonetheless, we do hope the Spaceport succeeds (as best it can) as taxpayers have spent upwards of $200 million on it already. So, it is shocking, but perhaps not surprising, that the trial lawyers have convinced so many legislators to oppose efforts to protect those who will be providing space flights out of the New Mexico Spaceport from legal action. After all, there is already talk of a “Spaceport Glut.” Do opponents of liability protection really think Richard Branson and his buddies are stupid enough to come to New Mexico if they can go elsewhere and not be exposed to these lawsuits?

And, if you’ve been to the Roundhouse or follow education policy in this state, you’d know that APS is just one of many school districts in this state that has lobbied hard against serious education reform. Of course, many of these reforms are the very things that the Obama Administration has been looking for in order to decide if a state is serious enough about reform in order to receive the waiver in the first place.

So, you fight reform and then you cast blame on others when Obama’s Administration doesn’t see enough reform. Pretty embarrassing, I’d say. The solution? Ban publicly-funded agencies like APS from hiring lobbyists or cut their budget until they fire them all.

Unfortunately, when one is running for Congress, they have a need for grandstanding and appearing to be “for the people” when they are not. Enter Eric Griego and SB 30. SB 30, introduced by Sen. Sander Rue would simply enshrine in law that information currently available at New Mexico’s Sunshine Portal, will continue to be made available under future administrations.

Sounds like a slam-dunk, right? Not for Griego the opportunist. He submitted and convinced his fellow Democrats to support a floor amendment to create “a directory of all employee positions of every person, corporation or entity with which the state contracts, identified by position title, salary and the name of the individual that holds the position.”

For starters, this amendment would represent an administrative nightmare for New Mexico government and businesses alike. Imagine the state buying or leasing police cars from Ford. Do we really need to know everyone that works for those companies? What if General Electric provides some “renewable energy” for the state? Issues abound (like, how often does this list need to be updated?) and, more importantly, the employees of these businesses (and the hundreds of smaller ones that contract with New Mexico) are not government workers and therefore are not subject to the same level of transparency.

So, Griego may claim that he wants transparency and open government, but the reality is much different.

Two specific proposals were outlined. One would provide tax incentives for companies to hire graduates of New Mexico institutes of higher ed. The other would make “new investments in a state entrepreneurial fund.” Aside from those proposals, he rightly criticizes “tax giveaway’s to single companies or long-established industries.”

By way of serious economic reforms, these are weak proposals indeed. Incentives to hire New Mexico college grads? First and foremost, why do we need more incentives for businesses to hire the MOST educated and qualified members of our work force? These graduates are on average wealthier and whiter than the New Mexico population at large. Of course, these incentives, while spread out over New Mexico’s economy, won’t really do much to spur significant economic growth anyway. Are companies really going to set up shop here (and create new jobs) in NM because of a $5,000 credit?

In terms of the state’s entrepreneurial fund, New Mexico already has the State Investment Council. Keller led the charge in reforming this, so he should be more aware than most of the serious problems with government-driven investment of taxpayer dollars. This is a bad idea.

Lastly, it is hard to argue with Keller’s view that government should not favor one business or industry. One wonders where the Democrats were when Bill Richardson set up the Rail Runner, the Spaceport (two government-created businesses) and the film subsidies. Rep. Dennis Kintigh has introduced legislation to phase down the tax credit over the next several years. It would seem to fall directly within the paradigm that Keller is touting. Unfortunately, his colleagues don’t seem to have gotten the memo.

So, the presumed Republican standard-bearer for the White House is (still) pushing a proposal that I called the worst bill of 2012 in the New Mexico Legislature….yikes. The good news…Gary Johnson is still running.

This is step one of two as the Board still needs to consider repeal of the carbon cap advocated by the environmental group New Energy Economy. This will apparently happen in March.

Certainly, repealing a New Mexico-specific carbon cap is good news for our economy and — when complete — it will lift a burden of uncertainty that has surely made businesses less willing to invest in and do business in the state. However, the most amusing thing about the article on the repeal (the first link in this blog) is the bellyaching over the repeal vote on the part of the environmental groups. A staff attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center is quoted as saying, “It’s obvious that anything that industry wants, they’re going to get from this board, whether it’s good for public health or the environment or not.” Well, pardon me, but wouldn’t the opposite have been true for Richardson’s board? Anything the environmental groups wanted, they could get.

That is the problem with an un-elected board with members appointed by one governor. It is why major decisions like capping carbon emissions should be made by elected legislators, not an un-elected, politically-appointed boards. But you won’t hear that from the enviros because they haven’t convinced the public of their point of view.

No matter who said it first, the quote is accurate. Perhaps the worst bill of 2012 has been introduced by Rep. Miguel Garcia (yes, THAT Miguel Garcia) and it would amend New Mexico’s Constitution to increase the minimum wage annually based on the rate of inflation. Why is this a terrible idea? Following are just a few of the many reasons:

1) minimum wages by their nature increase unemployment among minorities and the young (those who are at the lowest rungs of the work force);

2) indexing the rate to inflation means that New Mexico (like the City of Santa Fe) will be increasing the minimum wage even in a recession;

3) if raising the minimum wage year-by-year is such a good idea, why not just make the wage $20 or $30 an hour? The fact is that even advocates won’t support such a move because it will cause a sudden, well-publicized wave of layoffs. The piecemeal approach is used to mask the real effects of the mandatory wage increase;

4) it is morally wrong for government to stand between a voluntary agreement made by a worker and their employer. If I want to work for free or sub-minimum wage rates, that should be my right.

5) raising the minimum wage is bad policy, but it is just that: policy. The advocates of this proposal know that Gov. Martinez will veto this business-killing measure and are attempting to do an “end-run.”

The discussion will be held on Wednesday, February 15, from 6pm to 8pm in Room 2401 at the UNM Law School. Admission is $10, payable at the door, and includes light beverages and snacks. The Law School is located at: 1117 Stanford Drive Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87106-3700.

Singer is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, President of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University.

Dr. Singer is the author or editor of fourteen books on climate science, energy, and environmental issues as well as the author of over 400 articles in scientific and public policy journals plus over 200 articles in popular publications, Dr. Singer has been featured in articles in Time, Life, and U. S. News & World Report, and he has been interviewed on Nightline, Today Show, News Hour, Nightwatch, and other national and international television programs.

More recently, he co-authored the New York Times bestseller, Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), and he was also the organizer of NIPCC (Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change) and lead author in 2008 of its summary report, Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate.

The event is sure to be a lively and engaging one.