The cries go on for "diversifying" New Mexico's economy so it won't be so dependent on federal spending. Well, it hasn't happened and there's good reason to think it won't. We look more dependent than ever on the Feds. Here are the takeaways:

--President Trump is one of the least popular politicos in big Bernalillo County but his aggressive posture on the national nuclear arsenal is creating hundreds of new jobs at Sandia National Labs and putting serious change into the pockets of a multitude of small businesses and their employees that depend on the labs for their livelihood.

--Sandia reports that in budget '18 it spent over $317 million with small businesses and that its employment has climbed to 12,769. About 11,500 of those jobs are in ABQ and the remainder in California.

--Los Alamos National Labs reports employment continues its steady climb after a slowdown earlier in the decade, when there were LAN layoffs. It employed 11,743 in '18 and had a budget of $2.7 billion. Sandia's budget is now over $3.2 billion and growing.

--NM is now a permanently flat-lined state, with no population growth in the last decade and very little on the horizon. Diversifying the economy is now way down the ladder on the list of priorities.

--The top priorities that Santa Fe seems to finally be catching on to with the advent of a new administration are to finally resolve the educational and behavioral health crises that plague the state and keep it ranked near 50th in just about everything.

--Start taking a bite out of those urgent matters and perhaps in ten years or so you can take serious conversations about diversification and significant business growth, well, seriously.

--The ABQ Mayor also seems to understand the new paradigm. He was glad to help snag big spender Netflix for the metro but the cornerstone of his economic plan is to nurture local businesses. That's because landing the whales is more elusive than ever since ABQ and NM are unable to compete with the 21st century Millennial hotspots of Austin, Denver etc.

--The "diversification" that would satisfy many in the crowd is to somehow have less of the federal spending tied to nuclear weapons. Can NM's congressional delegation do more in that regard?

Meanwhile, those federal budgets aren't going away (as they haven't for over 70 years). They provide a foundation of economy stability as New Mexico attempts to dig itself out of a deep hole generations in the making and exacerbated so profoundly in the last ten.

DATELINE ANIMAS


There's another side to the immigration issue that a number of New Mexicans are now feeling acutely and that could pressure the Governor in the days ahead:

Residents in (Animas), a remote ranching town in southern New Mexico complain they’ve been forgotten and left out as Washington and Santa Fe debate border issues. . . Animas business owner and rancher Tricia Elbrock wants more border security. In 2015, drug smugglers kidnapped one of her employees near the border. She and other ranchers in New Mexico’s Bootheel say they need a border wall and more security as the region, long a drug smuggling corridor, has also become a hot spot for guides leading large groups of Central American migrants to Antelope Wells.

On a recent visit to the border MLG asserted that here was no "crisis" there as President Trump has argued, but it seems to depend on what part of the order you are focused on. If the Central American migrants continue to cross into Animas and Antelope Wells this will likely become a national story with attention paid to actions from the state. And then there's Senators Udall and Heinrich. Where's the plan?

IN THE WEEDS

Let's go in the weeds with the Legislative Finance Committee newsletter which finds. . .

New Mexico’s 66,725 active medical cannabis patients in November was a nearly 50 percent increase from the count a year ago, and the number of personal production licenses, 7,563, was a 16 percent increase from the prior year. However, the total number of cannabis plants in production was down 5.2 percent. The price was stable at $9.98 per gram.

As for the Legislature legalizing recreation majority during this year's session, the prospect continues to look dim.

NOT "TROOPERS"

Here's an interesting letter from Kevin Berry, Deputy Chief of the South, New Mexico Mounted Patrol. It's about that lawsuit involving former Gov. Martinez and the use of the word "trooper"in describing the state police bodyguard who the suit claims was having an affair with her:

Joe, I greatly appreciate your blog and read it daily. I was reading today about the alleged affair of Governor Martinez. The article states that she had an alleged affair with her “Trooper” bodyguard. New Mexico State Police officers are not troopers. In fact, the only troopers in New Mexico are members of the New Mexico Mounted Patrol, and all-volunteer law enforcement agency created by Governor Miles and the state legislature in 1941. New Mexico and California are the only two states that do not have troopers as part of their Department of Public Safety.

As Deputy Chief of the South for New Mexico Mounted Patrol, I wanted to provide this correction as I’m very proud of our status as troopers, our history, and the service we have provided the local, county, and state law enforcement agencies for 78 years.

 I did not know that, Kevin. Guess my gringo roots are showing. I grew up in Pennsylvania where the state police there are known as state troopers.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019