This editorial is in response to Rep. Susan Herrera’s Apr. 5 letter to the Rio Grande SUN, published with the headline ‘Let me Set the Record Straight.’ Herrera’s letter came in response to the SUN’s March 23 editorial, ‘Los Alamos Builds Fences that Need to be Torn Down.’
We continue to believe that tax revenues, perhaps as high as $65 million annually and benefiting Los Alamos—secured by the work of Los Alamos National Laboratory—should be shared to some degree with Rio Arriba County and Española.
New Mexico State Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D- Alcalde) and Ron Lovato, who is a former governor of Ohkay Owingeh, pressed this issue in the most recent legislative session in Santa Fe.
Rep. Sanchez first pushed this proposal several years ago, arguing that allocating a portion of LANL tax dollars to the Valley is justified because of the large percentage of employees from Rio Arriba County who work at LANL. His idea fell on deaf ears then and continues to be blocked today, most notably by state Reps. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo) and Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos).
During the recent legislative session, Rep. Sanchez was instructed by power brokers in the Roundhouse to take his LANL revenue-sharing plan to the leaders of Los Alamos County, where he might be able to arrange a compromise.
By all accounts the meeting was a disaster, and both Herrera and Chandler continue leading the charge against any sharing of LANL tax revenue with the Valley.
We have been critical of both Rep. Herrera and Rep. Chandler and their efforts to block what we believe is a solid proposal to pay Rio Arriba County—using some of Los Alamos County’s LANL tax revenue—for the contributions made by our residents working at the Lab.
We still believe that both women, who are Democrats, should have shown more loyalty, if for no other reason than because Rep. Herrera represents Rio Arriba County and she, like Sanchez, is a Democrat.
Last week Rep. Herrera submitted a lengthy letter to the Rio Grande SUN stating why she is not supporting Rep. Sanchez’s proposal. One sentence stands out in her letter. She wrote, “If Rio Arriba County can be entitled to tax revenue from Lost Alamos simply because it is a poor county, should Mora County be entitled to a portion of Rio Arriba’s GRT revenue because it is poorer?”
Rep. Herrera misses the point.
The request and justification for sharing LANL Gross Receipts Tax revenue is not because Rio Arriba is a “poor county.”
Rather, it’s because sharing the tax revenue is the right thing to do. After all, our people are working diligently at LANL, providing much of the labor, and we want to be compensated for our contributions.
In her letter, Rep. Herrera criticized the tax sharing proposal as “bad legislation,” then went on to outline all she says she has done for her constituents.
Her work on other legislation is beside the point and her arguments unconvincing. Considering how defensive Rep. Herrera sounded in outlining her position, and her attempts to obfuscate the LANL issue with boasts about past legislation, we couldn’t help but recall a line from William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
(Editor’s note: Rep. Joseph Sanchez is an investor in El Rito Media, which owns the Rio Grande SUN.)