Monday, February 25, 2019MLG Goes National, Monahan And Munoz Debate PERA And Dreaded Food Tax Re-emerges But Going Nowhere
Welcome back. Let's get right to the latest action.
It's been a long absence from the national Sunday morning news broadcasts for a New Mexico Governor but MLG broke the ice Sunday with an eight minute appearance on CBS' Face the Nation to discuss immigration and border issues. For eight years her Republican predecessor, Susana Martinez, shied away from the Sunday gabfests which often go deep in the weeds on policy, an area where Martinez, to put it mildly, did not excel. Still her supporters pushed the first female Hispanic Governor as a national political prospect, even if she was unable to muster the courage to take on the national media. There are no rumblings about MLG seeking national office but as a former congresswoman and a policy wonk she is comfortable in the DC spotlight. If we are lucky and temptation doesn't overtake her, for the first time since the early 90's New Mexico will not have a Governor seeking national office. Martinez's national ambitions (mainly for VP) were preceded by those of Dem Bill Richardson who ran for President and those of GOP Guv Gary Johnson who sought national fame with his drug legalization efforts and later ran twice for President. While it's good to see a New Mexico Governor back on the Sunday morning circuit, it does not stimulate any interest for her camping out in Iowa or New Hampshire. The state has had its fill. MONAHAN AND MUNOZ Our Friday blog that urged Santa Fe to cool the head of steam it seems intent on building for cutting back state retiree benefits from the Public Employee Retirement Authority (PERA) fund brought differing thoughts. Gallup Area Dem State Senator George Munoz, who is deeply involved in the issue, joined the debate. He goes first: Joe, between PERA and the Educational Retirement Board (ERB) funds this state has almost $14 billion in unfunded pension liabilities with no prospect of ever paying them off. Those liabilities will grow this year. Bond rating downgrades have already started to happen. I agree with the Governor that “reasonable” changes need to be made and both the ERB and PERA boards have come up with reasonable proposals. Having worked on our pensions for more than a decade I can assure you this is not fake news and everyone needs to help, including the state and retirees.
Thanks for the thoughts, Senator. Here are ours: NM will be adding thousands of employees in the next few years, including educators, to make up for the extreme number of vacancies left from the Martinez administration. Their retirement contributions will help shore up both funds. Also, we do not believe it is necessary to achieve 100 percent funding for the "unfunded liabilities" that stretch into the decades ahead. Our generation alone can't solve the problem. PERA funding is currently over 70 percent of the 100 percent. We are really not in a perilous spot. As for the S&P 500 investment, we used a 15 year comparison because our funds are long-term investments. In that time span a passive S&P index fund handily beat over 90 percent of actively managed stock investments that cost us much more in management fees. Did PERA’s actively managed stock portfolios beat the index over 15 years? It would be interesting to know. The 10 percent market downturn you mention is not unusual. Only if it happened on an annual basis for a number of years would it dramatically impact the retirement funds. We agree changes are needed, just made carefully and spread over the next 20 years--not a panic move that would harm the economic prospects of today’s retirees and those nearing retirement. Thanks again, George. We appreciate the work you do on this important issue. HOW TO LOSE THE HOUSE Reinstate the dreaded food tax? What? Are the Dems trying to give the state House back to the R's? That's the take of a number of Alligators as they watch this one play out. Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, a Dem, is the front man for the food tax and has introduced such a bill as did a Senate R. Reinstating the tax on food, says Fred Nathan of Think NM, would hit New Mexicans earning $15,000-$40,000 three times harder than people earning over $200,000. And he adds that even though these bills would never be signed by MLG, it's important to note this angle: New Mexico’s tax system is a mess and is undermined by more than 300 special interest loopholes, exemptions and deductions. So it is puzzling that these bills, rather than focusing on overall tax reform, instead focus on the food tax exemption, the one exemption which benefits hundreds of thousands of low and middle income New Mexico families and which enjoys wide public support. Well, so long as this stays below the radar. Otherwise, the new battle cry of Session '19 will be: "Keep your hands off our tortillas, Santa Fe!" This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. ![]() ![]() |
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