Author: House Republican Whip, Rod Montoya (Farmington)

Speaker Brian Egolf and House Appropriations and Finance Chair Patty Lundstrom have recently stated that no one could have predicted New Mexico's unfolding budget crisis. In reality, House Republicans predicted a looming budget crisis during the Legislative Session in February. We pointed to falling oil prices and I personally questioned what economic consequences the coronavirus pandemic posed.

Nonetheless, the Governor and the Democrat-led legislature continued undeterred on a record spending spree, setting the stage for the budget crisis we now face. Democrat leaders not only increased the state budget by 20% over the last two years, they also passed the largest tax increase in state history to sustain their irresponsible spending.

New Mexico history has proven that we can sustain increased spending by approximately 4% per year. The last time we saw a 20% spending increase was when Bill Richardson was running for President. Simply put, Democrat leaders have demonstrated that they cannot control themselves when it comes to spending your money.

As a result of their spending spree in 2020 and 2021, House Republicans introduced alternative budgets to offer more responsible options. The budgets proposed by the Governor and the Democrat legislators were so outrageous that we literally had no choice.

Had our budget alternatives been adopted, we would currently have over $3 billion in reserves and nearly $700 million less in yearly obligations. We would be in a much better position to address the budget challenges we now face, while ensuring that priorities such as education spending and teachers' salaries were protected.

Yes, this budget crisis was predicted, and yes, Republicans have been trying to sound the alarm for the past two years. Even House Democrats knew their spending was out of control. That's the very reason why they introduced the Budget Overdraft Protection Plan (HB341) in the final days of the 2020 Legislation Session. This legislation was strategically crafted and passed in an effort to avoid the embarrassment of having to return to Santa Fe for a Special Budget Session before the November election.

Now we are in the middle of the budget crisis that we ALL knew was coming. The nearly $2 billion budget deficit will likely require deep cuts, sweeping funds from every state agency, and eliminating upcoming teacher raises. Sadly, most of these difficult decisions could have been avoided had the Democrats shown some minimal amount of restraint.

New Mexican's have every reason to be concerned. After all, if Democrats were willing to pass the largest tax increase in state history during a time of record budget surpluses, they will no doubt raise taxes to make up for our budget deficit.

House Republicans have fought to keep spending reasonable and lessen the tax burden on hardworking New Mexicans. We have offered alternative budgets that prioritize families over special interests, but our ideas have been rejected along party lines. Finally, Speaker Egolf has recognized that we are experiencing an economic disaster, even so and despite his comments in the Journal, he still has not engaged Republicans in any discussions to address this catastrophe.

The budget crisis New Mexico is facing will require difficult decisions. As we struggle to find solutions to our $2 billion deficit, we must also take steps to allow businesses to reopen. New Mexicans want jobs, not unemployment checks.

Responsible budgeting could have prevented the pain we are now facing, and responsible budgeting is necessary to get our economy back on track. It's time for the Governor and Democratic leaders to manage our state budget much more responsibly; and if they cannot do that, perhaps it is time for new leadership.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.