{"id":176180,"date":"2016-08-14T18:26:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T00:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=176180"},"modified":"2016-08-15T11:21:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T17:21:27","slug":"state-government-spending-cuts-are-difficult-but-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/08\/state-government-spending-cuts-are-difficult-but-essential\/","title":{"rendered":"State government spending cuts are difficult but essential"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>No politician relishes the job facing New Mexico\u2019s leadership in the months ahead. Facing massive budget deficits<\/a> and the prospect of an election-year special session<\/a> in an unpredictable and unsettled political season is no elected official\u2019s idea of fun.<\/p>\n

Like most problems, New Mexico\u2019s budget woes did not sneak up on us overnight. Decades of overspending, combined with tax and regulatory environments that make our state relatively unattractive as a place for doing business, caused undue reliance on federal spending and extractive industries like oil and gas.<\/p>\n

Economic realities have recently impacted both areas, exposing this.<\/p>\n

\"Paul

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Paul Gessing<\/p><\/div>\n

The current situation could have been avoided with the enactment of pro-growth economic policies, but that didn\u2019t happen. The task now is to balance the budget while minimizing the harm to our future economic prospects. Once the budget is balanced, perhaps the Legislature, especially the Senate, will embrace pro-growth policies.<\/p>\n

The good news is that Gov. Martinez has made it clear that she won\u2019t raise taxes. The last thing our businesses and hard-working New Mexicans need is higher taxes. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in FY 2014 New Mexico spent $7,767 per-person. Among our neighbors, Colorado was the next-highest at $5,853. Texas spent $4,086, or just over half the amount spent by New Mexico. Clearly there is room in the budget to cut.<\/p>\n

The other good news is that Rio Grande Foundation has pored over the budget and found enough cuts<\/a> for policymakers to avoid tax hikes without harming its economic future.<\/p>\n

The bad news is that some are already digging in to protect their preferred programs. Senate Democrats have already put education spending \u2013 57 percent of the general fund budget \u2013 \u201coff the table.\u201d For their part, several leaders of the business community have urged the preservation of \u201ceconomic development\u201d spending.<\/p>\n

The truth is that closing the budget gap will require compromise. Here are a few of the potential cuts laid out in the new RGF report<\/a>:<\/p>\n