The ants’ special opportunity

By Carter Bundy

Governor Richardson’s call for a special session is a good one. August generally is a down time for lawmakers. Most voters aren’t focused on state legislative elections, and in any event it’s awfully hot walking around knocking on doors.

Low expectations, high potential

This year, it’s particularly good to have a special session to lay the groundwork for health-care reform in the 2009 session. The governor is wisely downplaying the odds of significant health-care legislation in the special.

Legislators can, however, start to find common ground. One area that almost everyone agrees needs more attention is denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

At the governor’s health-coverage task force, both businesses and advocates brought this up. Denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions means denial of health care to the very people who need it most. But we’re also forcing thousands of New Mexicans to stay in jobs when their talents are better used elsewhere.

One small-business owner told the task force that she couldn’t afford to hire her dream accountant/bookkeeper because her pre-existing conditions would’ve made health coverage unaffordable for all of them.

That’s bad for business, bad for workers, bad for innovation, bad for efficiency and productivity and bad for the economy.

Lay the groundwork on that one issue, and you’ve dramatically broken the golden hospital wristbands that undermine our economy’s efficiency.

Energy hand-ups, not handouts

One of the special-session proposals that is getting some traction — tax rebates — should be limited at best.

America’s energy policies over the last 30 years have put us at the mercy of the global oil markets. People are going to have a tough time with heating bills this winter, a major rationale for tax rebates.

If we want to help New Mexicans with energy costs this winter, instead of just giving away money handouts that get used once to pay for inefficient heating, why not focus on rebates for insulation and efficient windows and doors?

Those are gifts that will keep on giving, while reducing energy demand and our carbon footprint.

Moiling for the winter

Growing up, my parents used to read us Aesop’s Fables. Other than having no idea what “moiling” is, I think this one is appropriate for the special session:

“In a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

“’Why not come and chat with me,’ said the Grasshopper, ‘instead of toiling and moiling in that way?’ ‘I am helping to lay up food for the winter,’ said the Ant, ‘and recommend you to do the same.’

“‘Why bother about winter?’ said the Grasshopper; ‘we have got plenty of food at present.’ But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.

“Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.”

Whatever rebates are given, we should save the bulk of the surplus for days of necessity.

Energy pre-buttal

Many W/McCain/Pearce supporters will argue that the energy crisis is due to a bunch of tree-hugging liberal Democrats who actually like the outdoors. So here’s the pre-buttal:

Supply side: Drilling won’t help. Even once we do get oil from ANWR or the Eastern Gulf 20 or 30 years from now, it won’t amount to more than 1 or 2 percent of worldwide oil supply. That tiny amount of supply increase is going to be dwarfed by increased demand from China and India.

Far better to develop alternatives as advocated by T. Boone Pickens. Heck, even if we develop wind and solar in twice the 10-year timeframe Al Gore wants, it’ll do far more than all the oil in ANWR and the Eastern Gulf ever could, and faster. As T. Boone says, this is one crisis we can’t drill our way out of.

Even ethanol, which admittedly has a negative effect on feed prices, can be more of a boon to our energy supplies than additional drilling. Corn ethanol is already booming, and even more efficient sugar-cane ethanol technology is around the corner.

Demand side: At home, simple things like raising CAFE standards by a couple of miles per gallon would cut demand far more than ANWR and the Eastern Gulf would increase supply.

Abroad, we should push China and India into more efficient energy uses. They still need us for trade and development, and we should use our economic power to help mitigate their booming demand for oil.

Session meltdown?

The one thing the special shouldn’t do is approve new tax increment development districts. New Mexico is already going where no state has ever gone before in giving billions of taxpayer dollars to out-of-state developers’ greenfield projects.

The developers had already committed to smart growth and were planning on massive profits before asking the taxpayers for handouts. Proposing new TIDD approvals could — and should — lead to a meltdown.

The special is a chance to lay groundwork on health care and to reduce taxpayers’ energy costs. It shouldn’t be a free-for-all raid on the treasury, either with generic handouts or massive developer subsidies. It’s a special opportunity for the ants.

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in New Mexico. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com.