A number of constitutional amendments are the order of the day for this edition of Other Voices. We start with reader Bob Carroll who responds to criticism of two amendments approved by voters last November providing more tax breaks for veterans:

Joe, I read with dismay your December 4 article on the recently passed constitutional amendments on tax breaks for veterans. As you noted, the amendments were approved by a substantial majority of the voters, 83% for HJR 5 and 73% for HJR 6. The amendments recognize the sacrifice that the veterans have made for the good of our nation. It is also important to note that neighboring states have even more generous provisions for veterans (Texas, for example). The Department of Defense, in making its determinations on which bases will receive more missions, and which bases will remain open, places a heavy weight on which states have military friendly laws for service members, veterans and their families. 

The first Constitutional amendment (HJR 5) ties a property tax reduction for veterans based on the percentage of their service-related disability. The previous provision only granted an exemption for veterans with a 100% service related disability. If you had a 60% or 40% disability, you were out of luck. Under this bill, if you have a 40% disability then you will get a 40% reduction on your property taxes. 

About a quarter of New Mexico veterans have some level of service-connected disabilities. The average reduction in the tax bill for these veterans will be about $767 and will cost taxpayers about $14 a year (see legislative FIR, or Fiscal Impact Report). Other states have similar deductions for partially disabled veterans (Texas, for example). The FIR assumes that every veteran takes advantage of this amendment, which never happens, and the impact is likely to be far lower. 

The cost of the second amendment that reduces the bills that veterans receive for property taxes is minimal. The amendment provides that the exemption, which was pegged at $4,000 in 2006 to be deducted from the taxable value of the property, will be raised to $10,000 and will be tied to the rate of inflation in prospective years. 

Keep in mind that we are talking about a $10,000 deduction on the value of the property, not on the tax bill. New Mexico has 142,000 veterans, and about half claim the property deduction. A $10,000 reduction in the valuation of a $300,000 house in Albuquerque (to $290,000) doesn’t mean much financially to the homeowner. It means a lot more to a veteran living in a $40,000 trailer. The average reduction in actual taxes paid by veterans will be about $180. This is an annual burden on the general population of $34, which again assumes that every veteran will apply for the exemption.

I won’t argue that our tax system is perfect or that a different approach might benefit more people. I do maintain that recognizing our veterans and enacting provisions that are in line with other states is important in keeping our veterans here in New Mexico. 

EARLY CHILDHOOD AMENDMENT

Allen Sánchez

Allen Sánchez, president of  St. Joseph's Children in Albuquerque as well as executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops and now a member of the New Mexico State Investment Council, advocated for a decade for a constitutional amendment that allows funds to flow from the state's large Land Grant Permanent Fund into early childhood services and education. Finally, in July 2023, that amendment took effect. In this excerpt from a comprehensive column he wrote about the struggle for the amendment, Sanchez explains what its approval means today:

After 10 years of battling with the state legislature, the constitutional amendment, known as the House Joint Resolution 1 Early Childhood Constitutional Amendment, was placed on the November 2022 ballot and was approved by the voters with a mandate vote of 70.33% in favor. The ballot initiative authorized an additional withdrawal of 1.25% of the Land Grant Permanent Fund,

On July 1, 2023, the funds began to flow. Today, the budget for delivering early childhood services is nearly $800 million in a state with a population of approximately 2 million people.

By being the first state in the union to make early childhood services a constitutional right, the health of New Mexico's population will be forever changed. The immediate impact on children's health is evident: The first-of-its-kind universal child care in the nation places children in a safe environment, lifts their parents up by creating the ability to seek employment and raises the family out of poverty. In many cases, that employment brings health insurance coverage to the family. 

Universal Pre-K ensures that children reach kindergarten ready to learn, and home visiting connects parents to safety net service organizations, reassuring them that babies do come with instructions. Home visitors. . .connect families and babies to a medical home and teach parents resilience and how to advocate for their child. They also bring access and connection to housing assistance, vaccinations and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Furthermore, they build relationships in which parents feel safe to self-disclose their need for referral and follow through to address issues such as postpartum depression or alcohol or substance abuse. In fact, the state can attest to a decrease in visits to the emergency room in the first year of a child's life.  

New Mexico is blessed to have a revenue stream from royalties on gas and oil, but all states can discern how they, too, can make this constitutional right for their youngest children and invest it in the fundamental foundation for their lifelong health. Prioritizing health is a battle worth fighting.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.        

Brown and Carter

Former President Jimmy Carter, who will be laid to rest this week, had more than passing ties with New Mexico. It could even be said that his presidency ('77-81) would not have been possible without a young dynamic duo from the Land of Enchantment,  

Political consultant Chris Brown was just starting his career following a big win running Jerry Apodaca's successful 1974 gubernatorial bid when he hooked up with the Georgia governor and became his NE and New Hampshire campaign manager for the 1976 campaign, a campaign most analysts expected to go nowhere but soon soared.

Brown and another political wunderkind, Tim Kraft, who came to the state in the mid 70's and became executive director of the NM  Democratic party, was named Carter's National Field Director and with Brown was instrumental in putting the unknown candidate on the radar and in the White House. 

Kraft died last year. Brown, who is attending Carter's DC services this week, lives in Santa Fe and has a remembrance with a New Mexico angle:

Jimmy Carter was the first president committed to forming a diverse and inclusive government truly representative of America. His strong connections to New Mexico, especially through Governor Jerry Apodaca whose 1974 campaign he had assisted, provided him a source of able women and men to fill executive branch positions, judgeships and even his ambassador to Spain, Ed Romero. 

Drawing heavily on New Mexico talent, Carter was proud to have appointed more Hispanics than any president. Jimmy Carter narrowly lost New Mexico to president Gerald Ford in 1976. Yet our state emerged a winner in his administration with numerous New Mexicans able to inform a range of policies beneficial to our diverse people, land and resources. 

1975

New Mexico was one of Carter's first campaign stops shortly after he announced his candidacy in December of 1975. We interviewed him several times. 

The news article posted here is of a Carter visit 50 years ago that we penned for the UNM Daily Lobo.

Another time we interviewed Carter with a fellow student reporter for an unheard of 45 minutes in a hotel ballroom following a campaign event.  

Being "Jimmy Who?" at that time we had no reason to think we were  tossing questions at the next president but we were earning our chops as a policy wonk and Carter was at the top of the heap in that category. The interview went well. 

We also remember that conversation fondly for the patience and respect the soon-to-be next president afforded two young reporters even though we were barely dots on the media map.

Later, in 1979, we would move to Washington to serve as a congressional aide only to witness close-up the Carter administration coming undone, but President Carter's outstanding character and sense of decency that served the nation so well never wavered.

The year was 1975. I was there and that's how I remember it.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.        

Senator Lujan

He has a new plum committee assignment but until he confirms strongly and clearly that he is seeking re-election in 2026 some mystery will surround Senator Ben Ray Lujan.

The 52 year old appears fairly well-positioned for a second term effort, reporting $1.14 million in campaign cash at the end of September 

And that new committee slot he nabbed is on Senate Finance, an important panel dealing with high-profile issues: 

The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to: taxation and other revenue measures, tariff and import quotas, health programs under the Social Security Act, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and other health and human services programs financed by a specific tax or trust fund; and national social security.

It is not his political health that is in question for Lujan but his personal health is still talked about. 

Just two years into his first term, in January of 2022, he suffered a major stroke that came perilously close to stopping him from serving. But he recovered after intense therapy and resumed his Senate duties, putting to rest speculation that he would not complete his six year term. 

Now he is "in cycle" for the '26 election and all systems appear to be go but the breathtaking pace that Lujan's supporters expected when he arrived in the Senate after five peripatetic terms in the House and that saw him become a major player may have been slowed by his health setback. 

MORE SUBDUED

Few insiders will go on the record but they do note that this is a more subdued Lujan post-stroke. He gets around the state but without much attention. His legislative interests are widespread and he has yet to focus on a specific area that is a common path among Senators. In the House he became a a master of Democratic electoral politics, assisting his colleagues in securing election wins across the nation. 

For example, in taking note of his membership on Senate Finance Lujan painted a broad brush without mentioning any singularity of purpose:

“As a member of the Finance Committee, I will continue my efforts to protect New Mexicans’ access to health care and to lower prescription drug costs. I will fight to protect Social Security so that our seniors can retire in dignity, and push for a fair tax code that provides middle-class New Mexicans with tax relief. I will also work to advance and promote policies that create opportunities for New Mexican businesses and workers.” 

ANALYZING THE OUTLOOK 

There is just enough ambiguity about the Senator that Republicans see an opening albeit a very narrow one. 

During his stroke and recovery Lujan's office was reticent in offering information to the point that their stance was targeted for public criticism. When it became clear that he had recovered, the questions abated but will likely be brought up again if he seeks re-election--either subtly or openly. 

In Lujan's 2020 campaign, an effort described by political pros as not up to his abilities, Lujan scored a 6.11 percent win over Republican Mark Ronchetti after spending $9.4 million compared to Ronchetti's $3.9 million, according to OpenSecrets.

This time there is no major name lurking to take on Lujan--at least not yet--leaving him to attend to his duties with little pressure. 

His naming to Senate Finance again gives rise to hopes that the state's first Hispanic Senator since the 1970's will get on the fast track as he did in the House and forge a path that could eventually lead to leadership.

There is reason for patience. Even a politician coming into the Senate with the House background Lujan has is not expected to light up the night during his maiden term. 

Meantime the technical start of Campaign '26 begins quite benignly for the Santa Fe native. His voting record, while liberal, is not full blown "woke" in a blue state that still likes their senators to be comfortable in the middle as well as the left. 

For Lujan high expectations after a triumphant tenure in the House is his main opponent.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.        

Judith Nakamura

With the price tag for the winning candidate in the '22 gubernatorial race hitting $12 million, there is pressure on those hoping to take over the top floor of the storied Roundhouse in '26 to giddy up and throw their hats into the ring.

The Dems are off to a fast start with Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland ready to make a formal entry this spring and Sen. Martin Heinrich expected to also announce a decision in the months ahead, 

And the Republicans are looking more alive this new year than last. We count at least five possible and credible GOP contenders for the minority party's Guv nomination.  

They are: 

Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, state Senator Crystal Brantley, retired Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura, state Rep. Rebecca Dow and '24 GOP US Senate nominee Nella Domenici.

None of those potential candidates or any others has made a formal entry into the race. 

Hull and Nakamura are newcomers to the list of possibles. Both have proven appeal to Democrats from their previous campaigns.  

JUDGE JUDY 

Nakamura, 64, won election to the Supreme Court in 2016 by beating out challenger Michael Vigil by 391,000 votes to 361,000 (52% to 48%). Nakamura was the first Republican woman elected to the Court in the state history and the first Republican since 1980.

She also has a good history in Bernalillo County, the state's largest and a deciding factor in state elections. She was elected as a Metropolitan Court Judge and District Court Judge. 

In that statewide Supreme Court contest against Vigil, she bested him 55 to 45 percent in big BernCo, a crowning achievement and one her backers say could propel her forward in the '26 Guv contest. 

THE MAYOR

Mayor Hull has an impressive track record in the City of Vision, a Republican-leaning suburb of ABQ with a population of of some 113,000.

Hull was elected as mayor in April 2014 via a runoff election to a four-year term. He was re-elected in March 2018 to a four-year term.  In March 2022, Hull was re-elected to his third, four-year term. Rio Rancho Governing Body members are elected in non-partisan elections.

The population boom has cooled a bit in Rio Rancho while the business climate has improved drastically under Hull. The issue of city residents spending most of their money in ABQ is largely in the rear-view mirror with businesses of all stripes now making their home in the city known for its low crime rate and good public schools. 

With Hull or Nakamura the Republicans could at least knock on the door of BernCo and get someone to answer. 

Gov. Lujan Grisham punished Republican Mark Ronchetti here in '22, posting a 58 to 41 percent victory. That was 144,000 for MLG and 99,000 for Ronchetti, a margin of 45,000, a deficit nearly impossible for a GOP candidate to make up in a race that drew 713,000 voters. MLG won the state by 6.38 percent. 

THE RIGHT MIX?

Some analysts point out that none of the five possible GOP hopefuls is Hispanic even though the last three Governors have been. They also mull about Hull being the only man in the group. After what will be 16 years of female governors next year, the electorate might want to mix it up. 

Still, Hull and Nakamura have the gravitas to carry the GOP banner and perhaps a smidgen more hope of pulling off an upset since since the November election. Trump's loss to Kamala Harris was an even six points, a bit better than the '22 GOP Guv candidate and the best GOP presidential showing since 2004. 

And results indicate some of those Trump votes came from dissatisfied Hispanic Democratic men in the northern counties and elsewhere. 

THE OTHERS

Brantley and Dow are also no lightweights but Dow could not win the '22 GOP Guv nomination when she ran and Brantley has never run statewide. Domenici has run statewide but lost by ten points--55 to 45--to Heinrich. That size of a loss does not give her any foot up for the nomination. However, she does have a personal fortune to deploy, if she chooses, so she will be closely watched by potential rivals.

Finally, while Hull and Nakamura and Domenci have established some moderate GOP credentials, they would be challenged in this blue state on abortion, crime and climate and last but not least the Trump presidency. 

That is no easy needle to thread. Whoever ends up winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination will need the steadiest of hands.

MAYOR JANWAY 

From our perch Dale Janway was one of the best small city mayors in New Mexico. He ably and obsessively supervised the Cave City for three terms ending in January of 2024.

Janway, 80, died of a heart condition December 28.

Carlsbad may be a small city but the issues don't get any bigger than during Janway's time at the helm. The Permian Basin oil boom jammed the town and surrounding environs with thousands of oil workers, creating an epic housing shortage and decimating roadways while boosting the city's coffers with treasure generated from the oil fields.

We experienced that first-hand when touring the area with Janway for an in-depth blog report in 2019 that was one of our most well-received, thanks to Janway's insistence on showing us every angle of the boom and then some. 

Janway was a Carlsbad native who came from the potash industry and was comfortable hanging with CEO's of the world's major oil companies as well as working men and women who are the backbone of the city.

“He was as Carlsbad as it gets,” declared Kyle Marksteiner, the city's PR chief under Janway often known as "Mr. Carlsbad."

"It's a wild ride," Janway told me in the middle of the oil boom. 

He rode it like a pro and today Carlsbad thrives in large part because of him.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.