MLG (ABQ Journal)

Impeachment and oil mania are making the rounds in La Politica this Wednesday and off we go with the takeaways:

--She isn't about to hire a lawyer but that on line petition to impeach Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham because she moved most of the state's national guard troops from the border is putting a damper on her early term honeymoon and giving her a first dose of widespread negative publicity.

--She can't be too surprised. The border and immigration are among the hottest of the hot button issues of our time, thanks to President Trump. MLG's defiance of him regarding the guard has predictably riled up his southern NM base.

--But slow down if you think those 36,000 folks (and growing) who have signed off on the impeachment of MLG are from New Mexico. No doubt many are but there is no screening of who signs so we assume a good number of them are from out of state.

--Still, Dem House Speaker Brian Egolf, who has the power to launch impeachment proceedings, was forced to knock down any such notion saying no way, no how. But the nuisance petition may be a message to MLG to tone down the emotion (like running into walls etc.) while pursuing her border policy.

--As far was we can tell, no Governor since statehood has faced impeachment charges. But other state officials have, the most famous one being in 2005 when we blogged of how State Treasurer Robert Vigil was indicted on extortion charges and the state House formed a 10 member impeachment subcommittee to investigate. Vigil folded his hand and resigned and the impeachment probe was halted.

--By the way, the House hired ABQ trial attorney Paul Kennedy in 2005 to guide them on the Vigil impeachment. In 2011 he was to become the go-to private attorney for Gov. Martinez and her political machine. And Martinez's "pit bull" is still going at it, having signed as the lawyer for former UNM Athletic Director and Machine friendly Paul Krebs who faces criminal charges from the attorney general.

OIL US UP

Holy Gusher, Batman! So might say Robin to the caped crusader in reaction to the latest news from the booming NM oil fields.

--New data out shows oil and gas contributed $2.2 billion to the state in the last fiscal year, an increase of over $450 million from the previous year and a third of the entire state general fund budget. And more is on the way.

--Says NM Oil and Gas Association honcho Ryan Flynn: “Over the next ten years, production has the potential to remain high, at record levels, even with a downtick in prices, because the Permian Basin has become a focal point for investment."

--But that hasn't stopped anti-oil legislation in Santa Fe, including a proposed ban on fracking and a move to increase the state royalty rates on new leases from 20 to 25 percent. That and more has the Hobbs News-Sun in the heart of the oil boom in Lea County asking this question: "Is there a war on oil?" 

--If there is a war, oil isn't going to lose it this year, not while all those legislators from non-oil counties are bathing in the liquid black gold and dishing out a billion dollar energy generated surplus.

EYEING THE OIL BOYS

While oil booms there seems to be a little boomlet to get more royalties and taxes from the oil and gas industry, not by raising their taxes, but by looking closely to see if the industry is paying all they actually owe. Former State Land Commissioner Jim Baca first broached the idea of a forensic audit of oil and gas and here comes Christoper Madrid, the economic development director in Rio Arriba with a follow-up:

We are the 3rd largest gas producing county in the state. Mr. Baca pointed out that “We must perform a forensic audit of these same producers over the last eight years.” We could not agree more. In fact we hired an auditing firm and have confirmed Baca’s assumption. Our audit samples demonstrate that most of the producers we have reviewed are not reporting for property tax purposes. Of those that are, many are substantially undervaluing the property reported. On the production side, the state applies an assumed cost schedule that is well below market value of the equipment subject to taxation. . . Importantly, we are not asking that the industry pay more in taxes – only that they pay their fair share of taxes under the current structure. Our citizens are subject to an assessment of their homes by the county assessors at market rate valuation. Conversely, oil and gas basically get to “self-report” on a cost basis which they can manipulate whenever the assets are transferred.

Maybe Land Commissioner Garcia Richard might want to look into the audit route to raise more money for state education rather than an increase in royalty rates. During this oil boom that has as much chance of passing as the Rail Runner turning a profit.

NO MERCY

Democratic reader David Ryan has no mercy for the out of power House Republicans whose dilemma we blogged of Tuesday. He comes with this:

The Republicans lost their credibility when they allowed the Rush Limbaugh base to set their agenda. At the national level they cried about Obamacare. Rather than fix the problems with small bipartisan bills, they insisted upon repeal. When the Republicans had full control, they had nothing to offer. At the NM level they hollered for lower taxes and less regulation. Fix the economy by taking the shackles off of business. Well, that produced nothing. Until the Republicans have something to offer, the proper place for them is on the sidelines. In the meantime there are problems to solve. Hopefully this Democratic Party can keep the momentum and change the White House in 2020.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019