Are you really ticked off at the dismal condition of New Mexico\u2019s economy?<\/p>\n
Are you sick of hearing about our lousy tax laws, our unwelcoming business climate and our unprepared work force?<\/p>\n
Have you lost patience with the reports about how much better our neighboring states are?\u00a0 Does it bother you (as my colleague Harold Morgan noted recently) that Texas and Utah ranked first and second respectively, in a 2012 CNBC study for the most business-friendly state, while New Mexico was tied for 36? At least we weren\u2019t 49.<\/p>\n
Are you tearing your hair out about our mediocre education system and massive dropout problem?\u00a0 The education issue is related to the economy.\u00a0 Executives don\u2019t want to move their families to a state with an inferior education system. \u00a0You\u2019ve heard that, too.<\/p>\n
Everybody writes about this. I\u2019m asking what we could do that hasn\u2019t already been tried and gotten bogged down somewhere.<\/p>\n
We are hearing the usual well-intentioned proposals about making our tax rates more competitive, eliminating unfriendly regulations, paying for job training and improving our schools.\u00a0 We finally, maybe, have a deal to save our spaceport from becoming a $200 million parking lot to nowhere, but that\u2019s not certain because other states offer a better deal than what the New Mexico trial lawyers were willing to agree to.<\/p>\n
One bold proposal is to tap into the state\u2019s Permanent Fund for the benefit of a new early childhood program. \u00a0This proposal, which would require a constitutional amendment, is Senate Joint Memorial 3, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez (D-Belen).<\/p>\n
But the bald fact is that we New Mexicans don\u2019t trust our government to spend the money well.\u00a0 Do you? \u00a0We worry that we could deplete the nest egg and get inadequate results.\u00a0 There are too many ways for government programs to go off track.\u00a0 So we hesitate to support anything that would tap the permanent fund.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s a thought from outside the proverbial box.\u00a0 Pass the GMO labeling bill.<\/p>\n
Huh?<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 18, sponsored by Peter Wirth of Santa Fe, proposes to require labeling of genetically modified food. \u00a0Consumers\u2019 desire to get honest information about the food we buy has been trounced repeatedly by the Big Food industry, including the defeat of a citizen initiative in California last fall.\u00a0 I figured this bill doesn\u2019t have much of a chance, because I never assume that New Mexico can resist any powerful lobby; our legislature couldn\u2019t pass fireworks restrictions in a drought.\u00a0 But this could be a new approach to our perennial economic underperformance. Why?\u00a0 A huge untapped source of wealth is health-conscious rich people who prefer organic food and want to choose the food they eat.<\/p>\n
New Mexico already attracts some of that group.\u00a0 They\u2019re all over Santa Fe.\u00a0 If New Mexico becomes the first state with a genetically modified food labeling law, they will come by the jet-load.\u00a0 Some will bring their businesses in spite of our tax climate.\u00a0 Some will bring children in spite of our education system.\u00a0 They will find cute little towns to repopulate (I vote for Carrizozo, which already has a postage-stamp size art revival district and a golf course). They\u2019ll boost high-end home construction and alternative health care. \u00a0They\u2019ll support local organic farming and growers\u2019 markets. This bill could actually overcome some of the disadvantages we haven\u2019t figured out how to fix.<\/p>\n
This is an incentive, not a government program, although it does require a bit of bureaucracy to enforce it.\u00a0 So won\u2019t cost the state much money.<\/p>\n
And the rest of us will benefit.\u00a0 Maybe this bill will make the food supply more healthful for all of us, including the children we are so concerned about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Are you really ticked off at the dismal condition of New Mexico\u2019s economy? Are you sick of hearing about our lousy tax laws, our unwelcoming business climate and our unprepared work force? Have you lost patience with the reports about … Continue reading