It doesn't grab as many headlines as the oil and gas boom, but New Mexico's national laboratories have also been having a bull market. The budgets for Los Alamos and Sandia have soared in recent years, leading to much larger workforces. And under President Biden's proposed budget released this week there would be more to come. 

Anti-nuclear watchdogs continue to fight the production, questioning LANL's safety record and the need for Pit production, arguing that current nuclear triggers can last a century. 

But the invasion of the Ukraine by the Russians has prompted speculation about the possibility of nuclear war and that plays right into the hands of the pro-pit crowd.

The money involved is off the charts, points out reporter Annabella Farmer, and is already being spent on new hires who are flooding into Los Alamos and spilling over into Santa Fe: 

. . .At least $9 billion for a decade of work at the two sites, according to the most recent federal cost estimate. Up to $3.9 billion of that will go to LANL, the NNSA says. But the real price tag might run significantly higher: The cost could run as high as $18 billion over a decade, Arms Control Today reported.

The immense amount of federal funding and New Mexico's heritage as the birthplace of the A-bomb and nuclear weapons development is not easily shrugged off. And Putin's invasion is only making it more difficult for the anti-nuclear advocates. 

New Mexico may have guilt over its role in the development of the deadly nuclear arsenal but the billions of dollars coming into one of the poorest state's in the nation has made even our liberal DC politicians not only look the other way but beat the drum for the federal funding.  

Putin's actions 6,000 miles away in the Ukraine can only strengthen that dynamic and that will be felt in northern New Mexico for years.

REBATE DEBATE

Joe, I am glad you brought up household income in conjunction with the likely second rebate check. Many want to give away the surplus and craft no income limits. There must be income limits and there are pressing needs in our state. 

Inflation, primarily caused by Covid supply chain issues and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, impact lower income households the most. Frankly the top 20% do not need rebates. The top 20% receive favored tax preferences since the infamous 2003 state tax cuts. NM lost a decade following the great recession. State budgets were unreasonably slashed and needs not met. I highlight the destruction of the behavioral health systems by Martinez. A temporary surplus should address such needs not provide rebate checks for those who do not need it. 

ABQ Dem state Senate Jerry Ortiz y Pino writes: 

We have a 30% reserve planned for the year that starts July 1, 2022. That is a figure based on an $8.5 billion budget, so each percentage point this year amounts to $85 million, meaning a 30% reserve reflects $2.55 billion held back out of the budget in case things go sour too fast for us to react with a special session when we could make adjustments. 

But the key is that the 30% revenue held in reserve is a projection from the situation we had in January, when oil sold for $65 a barrel. It is now almost twice that, having been over $100 for the past three weeks. All of which means we will probably have excess revenue far above the 30% we thought we would. Those rebate checks should be much larger than the figures being kicked around currently. We can definitely afford to be more generous. Once the money is out and circulating, not only will families be helped, but so will every small business in the state. 

Reader Kelley is back with her updated take:

Again, go big or go home in November. Legislators who don’t open the state’s wallet to give some relief when we have the money, should go home. Going by income is fine, the lower the income, the bigger the rebate. Young people, poor people, families, the elderly poor need help. Rent is outrageously high, food and now gas. I for one will watch to see which legislators do anything or do nothing.

An anonymous reader comes with this:

Joe, I think you raise an important question about who should get tax rebates. New Mexico’s tax system is upside-down with the very rich paying a 40% lower overall rate of state and local taxes than the poor and middle class. Giving the same size tax rebate to everyone just perpetuates that inequity. Giving a tax rebate to those in need also helps boost our economy. Giving a few hundred dollars to the rich does nothing for our economy. The legislature has made big improvements to the tax code in the last 3 years, providing significant help to low-wage workers and the middle class. They should continue to make improvements and not backslide by giving the rich a rebate, New Mexico has so many needs. Giving another tax break to the rich is not one of them! 

Shout out to Mesa Provisions, a new addition to the Nob Hill restaurant scene in ABQ. Locally owned with locally sourced ingredients for its small and large plates, the restaurant and others that open in the post-Covid months could help spark a badly needed revival for once trendy Nob Hill that was hit hard in recent years. . . The headline over our Monday APD report should have read: Sanchez vs. Medina, not Gallegos vs. Medina. 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2022