Tuesday, June 18, 2019
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. NM THE WORST PLACE TO BE A KID, AGAIN
Another year, and yet another 50th ranking for New Mexico in the area of child welfare.
From the Albuquerque Journal:
For the third time in seven years, New Mexico came in dead last out of 50 states for child well-being, according to the 2019 Kids Count Data Book, released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The state was ranked 50th in 2013 and again last year, continuing in to this year.
Here is just a sampling of the dismal statistics:
27% of New Mexico children are living in poverty
36% live in homes where parents lack secure employment
10% of teens are neither working nor attending school
56% of young children are not in school
75% of fourth graders are not proficient in reading
80% of eighth graders are not proficient in math
29% of high school students do not graduate on time
45% of children live in single-parent families
We posted this headline on our Facebook page and asked for comments from our followers as to why they think we're in this seemingly perpetual state. We'd love to hear your comments.
Clearly, New Mexico isn't pulling it together.
And it's no wonder, especially when you hear about stories like this one: Aztec couple faces child abuse charges, Doctor described abuse child sustained as torture.
2. ABQ LANDS NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIO, BUT QUESTIONS ENSUE ABOUT FILM REBATES
On the surface, it sounds like great news. Albuquerque will be home to a NBC Universal studio later this year, joining Netflix which inked a deal with the city and state late last year. Both companies say they will spend over a billion dollars on film and TV projects over the next 10 years and will hire hundreds of local people.
Legislation passed last year completely removes the cap to the amount movie studios can get back in rebates -- but only if they make a 10-year commitment to the state, as Netflix and NBC have done. Previously, the cap was $50 million per year for all studios.
As a political analyst has pointed out:
They can keep collecting 25 to 30 percent of what it costs to produce films and TV shows no matter how much is being billed by the industry--even if their cut of the incentive pie takes the total over $110 million a year. How much over? Well, uncapped means that--no cap is no limit. And that's a big red flag for the critics.
"Uncapped" incentives have gotten other states in trouble.
Just imagine if the state is obligated to pay out, let's say, $500 million in rebates to these studios? When will we reach the limit of what we can actually afford?
The Wall Street Journal already took a look at New Mexico's film program and called it "too attractive" -- that was before Gov. Lujan Grisham sweetened the pot for the big studios to come in.
What if anything are Democrats doing to prevent New Mexico from encountering the same problems that states like Louisiana and Georgia faced because of these kinds of handouts?
And when these big studios come in, they push away the smaller, local studios who committed to New Mexico long ago. What exactly are we doing for them?
3. STATE CONSIDERING NM GOVERNMENT OFFICE TOWER IN SANTA FE
Apparently we have enough money in New Mexico to consider building an executive office building for the expanding state government in Santa Fe.
From the Albuquerque Journal:
A plan to build a new three-story executive office building near the state Capitol could be revived by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration, after being authorized more than 10 years ago but later stalling.
Though the project still faces hurdles, several top lawmakers and the appointed head of the agency that oversees state government buildings both expressed support for the idea during a meeting of the Capitol Building Planning Commission last week....
At the time, the project’s price tag was estimated to be $22 million, though that number could go up given the passage of time.