Facing difficulties at basic levels of government performance, the legislature during the past couple of sessions seemed at times to be excitedly, sometimes angrily, rearranging deck chairs as the ship began to sink. This year, after years of challenging moderate Democratic legislative candidates in primaries, the progressive wing of the New Mexico Democratic Party is now fully in control of the Roundhouse. It is not clear yet what the results will be. One positive note for El Norte is that Joseph Sanchez landed a spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
According to friends much closer to the Roundhouse than I, the first two weeks of this session seemed more disorganized than normal, the product of a large number of newly elected House members, the inexperience of newly appointed committee chairs and other House leaders, and key turnovers in staff. It takes time to learn the ropes in a $9+ Billion organization that funnels even more billions in federal monies to countless entities. Finding funds available for a new project can be as much an art form as a science, and sometimes it simply can’t or shouldn’t be done. For years House members passed spending provisions they knew were bad, knowing that Sen. John Smith, Chair of Senate Finance, had the backbone to kill them when they arrived at the Senate. But, a victim of a progressive primary challenge, he is no longer in the Senate to perform this service for taxpayers. His successor as head of Senate Finance, Sen. George Muñoz, has not yet had his backbone tested seriously, but it will be soon.
The most knowledgeable House member regarding the intricacies of the budgeting process, is Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, a moderate Democrat. Her removal as chair and membership on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, chaired by her for six years, was seen by observers as a vindictive act against a moderate as well as encouraging a spending spree. It was also another sign that the dysfunction we see in Washington is settling into New Mexico. Lack of civility is more common. Attention-grabbing stunts–often deliberate efforts to distract attention from failures of governing—are more frequent.
The episode of the Chinese balloon last weekend reminds us that the best security in a dangerous world comes from a strong, unified, national government. But the nation, far more than New Mexico, can likely afford a few years of dysfunction. Dysfunction in New Mexico threatens to shift the state into true banana republic territory. Do I exaggerate? In the past five years, the ABQ Journal reported last Sunday, New Mexico has lost nearly one third of its primary care physicians. The state is also short of medical specialists. The mental health system in New Mexico collapsed a decade ago–due to ineptitude or worse–just as drug addictions and then coronavirus, were generating a mental health epidemic. It hasn’t recovered yet. Only three states have higher suicide rates than New Mexico in 2023. Only 8 states have a lower life expectancy at birth. So far there isn’t much evidence the legislature—or governor—will take on these issues at the scale needed.
As everyone knows, New Mexico is last among the states in educational achievement. Despite massive spending there is still no serious plan to lift New Mexico out of the bottom. Worse, state government seems determined to undermine the ability of parents to evaluate the quality of education provided to their children. One of Governor Lujan’s first actions after being sworn in was to eliminate the reasonably accurate “report card” for each school district, under pressure from the NEA and AFT. This reduced accountability in the worst education system in the country. Now, with 8th grade math scores still the worst, the House voted last week to eliminate a longstanding requirement for algebra II. In a global economy increasingly rewarding people schooled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, is this a good idea? No, but the NEA likes it. Delivery systems for big-ticket items in New Mexico have come to be structured for the benefit of the providers rather than for patients or students or affordable housing applicants; the tail wags the dog.
The electoral dynamics in the legislature are clear. As legislators used the reapportionment process to make their seats safer, compromise with opponents to tackle major issues became less important and carried the risk that an incumbent would be challenged by a more ardent supporter of party ideology. Over time this has radicalized the composition of the legislature into leftwing and rightwing camps, and led to showboating and performing rather than governing. Paying legislators or extending the session won’t solve this. You want better government? Insist that most legislative districts be shaped to be competitive between the two parties.
Dr. Jose Garcia is a retired professor of politics at NMSU. He also served as Secretary of Higher Education from 2011-2015.